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Several French people took to the streets of some 50 towns in their country to demonstrate against the far-right presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen. Voters will choose their next president in the ballot on April 24.
Nearly 23,000 people demonstrated in France this Saturday, April 16, to prevent the far-right candidate, Marine Le Pen, from winning the second round of the presidential elections on April 24.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, protesters took to the streets of 50 locations in the country, including cities such as Rennes, Lyon, Nantes, Besançon and Paris. Some 9,200 people gathered in the capital, being the scene of the most massive protest.
The demonstrations were called by unions and organizations such as SOS Racismo, under the slogan “against the extreme right and for justice and equality”, as well as “not a vote for Le Pen”.
In them, several people announced that they will vote for Macron, because “a vote that stinks is better than a vote that kills.” This, in reference to the promise made by the far-right leader to dismantle all wind power generators because they “spoil the landscape”.
Marine Le Pen reacted by saying that the demonstrations were undemocratic. “Coming to demonstrate against the results of an election seems deeply undemocratic to me,” she told reporters, inviting protesters to “go vote!”
Police had warned of possible incidents at demonstrations around the country. In fact, he briefly fired tear gas in the capital. However, the marches ended peacefully.
Macron vs Le Pen
In the first round of the presidential elections, which took place on April 10, Marine Le Pen obtained 23.1% of the votes, compared to 27.85% for Macron.
The far-right candidate managed to mobilize voters by basing her speeches on anger over rising costs of living and the idea that Emmanuel Macron would be out of touch with everyday hardships. Le Pen considers that the current head of state is very focused on the war in Ukraine.
However, the gap between the two candidates has widened slightly this week. In part, because Macron has received the support of former presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande. Additionally, hundreds of celebrities and sports personalities have also pledged to block the far right.
The latest polls published in the magazine “L’Obs” give Macron the winner. However, experts say that, with a fragmented and undecided electorate, the candidate who manages to convince more voters that the alternative would be much worse is likely to win the election.
With Efe and Reuters
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