by Soma Oj.

Right now, Emmanuel Macron is probably locating his bearings withing the enormous and beautiful Champs Elysees as the new President of France. The youngest too. At 39, Macron beat his major rival, the older and more experienced Marine Le Pen who took over ad reshaped her father’s National Front party for the purpose of winning the elections.

It’s an old story now that she still lost despite all her efforts and popularity among anti-EU, nationalist French voters. And she lost by 66%, the percentage by which Macron led in the May 7 run-up elections.

But what if she had won?

For sure, today, the world – especially the parts of it that hold women of almost all colours, race, creed and nationality – will be cheering as France inaugurates a female President, a feat that the United States could not beat it to.  But now, both Hillary Clinton and Marine Le Pen have to wait – another turn or for another woman to take the leap needed to “shatter the glass ceiling”.

If Marine Le Pen had won last Sunday’s election, France will now be experiencing the dominance of extreme-right populists and French nationalists. French youth may even have pro-actively taken to Twitter and other social media platfroms to start a #NoToFrexit campaign.

Her party, the Front National (FN), during the campaign run went from a pariah in the 1980s to a major political force; an achievement for which she had to cut off her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen -a toughie who was soundly beaten Jacques Chirac in 2002. If Marine had only matched her first-round win last Sunday, her shrewdness, especially in booting out her father may now have paid off. She’ll now be the face of all no-nonsense go-getting women world over.

An unlikely and most undemocratic alliance?

With a Marine Le Pen presidency in France, there is no doubt that headlines world over tonight will be flashing the deathly warnings of an alliance between Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Le Pen. All three share the most antagonist positions against globalisation and the least respect for democratic principles.

Marine campaign based on promises to take France back to an era no tech-driven cosmopolitan millenial ever knew. She longed for a past where France belonged solely to the French. She was blatantly against opening borders and was certainly going lead a #Frexit of France from the EU. How Trumpist right? The only thing she didn’t promise was a huuuuuge wall blocking Mexicans. Yet, her own promises must have sounded to the Muslims and eyhnic minorities in France the way Trump’s threats continue to sound to Muslims, “hombres” and “inner city” occupants in America.

Gérard Araud, France’s ambassador to the United States was asked what he thought of a Le Pen win before elections. His response totally sums up where we’ll be if Marine had won:

“It means the collapse of the E.U… And it means the collapse of the Euro and a financial crisis, which will have consequences throughout the world. In diplomatic terms, I would say it will be a total disaster”.