THE CEROC

French citizens residing in the Kingdom cast their ballots at the French Embassy in Phnom Penh yesterday for the second round of their country’s presidential election.

The two contenders – centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron and anti-European Union nationalist Marine Le Pen – were chosen in a first round of voting on April 23 out of a field of 11 candidates, having received 24 percent and 21.3 percent of the vote, respectively.

According to the French Foreign Ministry, 1,258 ballots were cast by French expatriates in Cambodia in the first round of voting, with all 11 candidates receiving at least one vote. Macron received 28 percent of those votes, while Le Pen only took in 12.3 percent.

However, the anti-immigration candidate performed nearly twice as well among expatriates in Cambodia than the global average for communities outside of France. The most recent opinion polls give Macron a comfortable 22 point lead over Le Pen in the run-off.

Op-Ed: Phnom Penh Post