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Rabat – Thousands of French citizens took to the streets in the capital Paris and other cities across the country to denounce the normalization of far-right politics ahead of next weekend’s presidential elections.
Holding slogans such as “Better a vote that stinks than a vote that kills,” people protested the far-right rhetoric staining the French presidential elections this year, according to converging news reports.
As next weekend’s second-round showdown between Emmanuel Macron and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen edges closer, French people now have to choose between the nativist and xenophobic platform of Le Pen and Macron’s centrist and globalist politics.
However, opposition to Le Pen’s far-right agenda does not translate into enthusiastic support for Macron.
Many voters appear to be saying that while Macron’s first term was unsatisfactory and even disappointing on many fronts, their preference for the centrist incumbent is only meant to keep Le Pen out of the Elysee Palace.
In a speech to his supporters last weekend, left-wing candidate Jean-Luc Melenchn, who came third in the first round, echoed his supporters’ discontent with the French far-right politics by saying: “Not a single vote for Marine Le Pen.”
This weekend’s protestors are expressing their concern over Marine Le Pen’s plans to handle many of France’s national issues. Aside from being Euro-skeptic and anti-migration, Le Pen’s stance on climate issues is of concern to French climate activists.
In Marseille, high school students held banners that read “I am 17 and I don’t want to grow up in a fascist or pre-fascist country.”
In some other cities, protesters were mainly young people. One student told Euronews that she was protesting against racism, exclusion, and “potential dictatorship.”
Older protesters in Lyon said they were concerned over the rising tide of nationalism, populism, and xenophobia.
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