Protesters urge voting against candidates, massive abstention
17.04.2022
By Shweta Desai
PARIS
The French turned out in large numbers Saturday to oppose the extreme right and outgoing President Emmanuel Macron and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in the final round of presidential elections.
Nearly 22,000 participated in about 50 rallies, including 9,200 in Paris alone, according to a FranceInfo report, citing Interior Ministry data.
Demonstrations were held under the slogan: “Neither Le Pen, nor Macron” which is fast becoming a trend one week before the final round of the election. Protesters expressed discontent about the two finalists and called for mass abstention on April 24.
Protestors were seen holding banners that said: “All Against Macron,” “The young (expletive) on National Rally,” “Against the extreme right,” “Insecurity is hate at the Elysee,” and “Better a vote that stinks than a vote that kills.”
Police blocked metro stations in Paris to control protesters with signs and banners from joining the rallies.
Officials denied permission for the rallies in several cities with officials anticipating violence and disturbance of the public order.
The rallies were organized by trade and workers unions and civil society associations like the League of Human Rights, SOS Racism, Syndicate of the Judiciary and the National Trade Union Center (CGT).
Demonstrations emerged after the results of the first round of elections April 10 that qualified Macron and Le Pen for the final round.
There is widespread anger toward the candidates for encouraging right-wing ideology, hatred and violence.
Agitated student associations at several universities blocked campuses this week and are mobilizing campaigns to “oppose the hatred and fascism that are at the gates of the Elysee.”
Le Pen described the protests as deeply anti-democratic.
Analysts estimate if there is mass abstention in the final round it will adversely affect Macron’s chances of being re-elected and can tilt votes in Le Pen’s favor.
Currently, voting intentions for Macron are at 55% and 44% for Le Pen, according to a BFMTV poll.
Police clash with ‘Neither Macron, nor Le Pen’ protesters (VIDEOS)
French police used tear gas during a brief clash with demonstrators in Paris who had taken to the streets to oppose both remaining candidates for the presidency: incumbent Emmanuel Macron and the National Rally’s Marine Le Pen.
Ahead of the second round of the election, which is scheduled for April 24, thousands of people took part in anti-fascist and anti-racist demonstrations in dozens of cities around the country, with the largest one unsurprisingly taking place in the capital. The main goal of the demonstrators was to show their opposition to Le Pen, who leftists consider a far-right politician. However, many of Le Pen’s opponents apparently do not relish the prospect of another term for Macron. In fact, one of the most popular slogans of the march was “Ni Macron, ni Le Pen” (“Neither Macron nor Le Pen”).
Though more than 30 organizations and unions took part in the demonstration, it gathered fewer than 10,000 people, according to figures provided by the Paris prefecture. This is a far cry from the size of the anti-Le Pen crowds that assembled between the two rounds of the previous presidential election in 2017.
At about 5 pm at the Place de la Republique square, law enforcement responded to protesters who were throwing projectiles and burning bicycles and waste by briefly dispersing tear gas. Soon after the incident the march resumed.
Le Pen, speaking to reporters in southern France, commented on the demonstrations against her, saying that “protesting against election results is deeply undemocratic.”
“I say to all these people just go and vote. It's as simple as that,” she said.
The ‘Neither Macron nor Le Pen’ protest was one of at least six demonstrations that took place in Paris on Saturday. There was also a separate demonstration against Macron’s policies, a march in support of Ukraine and two Yellow Vest protests: one against obligatory Covid-19 vaccinations and another one for “social, financial and climate justice.”
The presidency will be decided by a runoff between incumbent President Emmanuel Macron and Le Pen, who in the first round garnered a respective 27.6% and 23.41% of the vote. Polls have so far been pointing to Macron as the likely winner when the two go head to head on April 24.
French election: Thousands protest against
far-right ahead of presidential run-off
By Euronews with AFP • Updated: 16/04/2022 - 
Demonstrators hold a banner reading: Against Le Pen, during a protest
"Better a vote that stinks than a vote that kills". In Paris and in towns and cities across France, thousands of people protested against the far-right ahead of next weekend's presidential run-off.
Many made it clear that in saying "no to the far right" they did not support Emmanuel Macron either — but would reluctantly cast their ballots for the current president in order to keep out his far-right rival.
"Not a single vote for Marine Le Pen!" chanted people in Lille, where several hundred demonstrators turned out. Ousted left-wing candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon repeated the phrase several times in a speech to supporters last weekend.
"We are here to say no to the far right. (...) for society, freedoms but also the climate. It would be a real regression if it came to power," said Jean-François Julliard , Managing Director of Greenpeace France. He was one of several thousand people who protested in Paris.
One sign in Paris recalled: "2002 was no, 2022 is still no", a reference to the "republican front" which saw millions mobilise to re-elect Jacques Chirac and keep out the far-right former "Front National" leader Jean-Marie Le Pen who had made it to the second round.
There were similar scenes in Marseille too, the city where Emmanuel Macron held a meeting on Saturday. "We are here to block the far right", exclaimed one high school student, Medina Bayoui.
In Lyon, where the demonstrators were mostly young people, Emma, a 23-year-old student, said she was taking a stand "against the trivialisation of dangerous ideas, against racism, exclusion, potential dictatorship".
Bruno, a 60-year-old teacher, came from Chambéry to Lyon to say "no to nationalism, populism, xenophobia".
Marine Le Pen, who campaigned earlier in Saint-Rémy-sur-Avre, west of Paris, criticised the protests. "Coming to demonstrate against the results of an election", she said, was "deeply anti-democratic... I think the French find it unpleasant to see their choice being challenged in the street, through demonstrations"
While the demonstrations were all against the far right, many who turned out made it clear they did not back the outgoing president either.
Sasha Halgand, an activist from SOS Racisme, regretted being faced with "a Macron / Le Pen duel which young people don't want," explaining that a vote for Macron would be tactical. "If Marine le Pen came to power, there would be fascist militias, draconian laws."
Lucile Muller, 19, a student in Paris, took issue with both candidates. "We already had the same result five years ago but we did not know Macron. Then we saw police violence, draconian laws (.. .) We would have preferred a second round between Mélenchon and Macron, with debates on ecology for example”.
In Paris, a few clashes broke out between police and around 100 people towards the end of the march.
And if in Paris a sign recalled: "2002 (Editor's note: Jean-Marie Le Pen against Jacques Chirac in the second round) it was no, 2022 is still no", recalls a sign in Paris.
No comments:
Post a Comment