PARIS, April 16 (Reuters) – Thousands of far-right protesters protested in France on Saturday as opponents of presidential candidate Marin Le Pen sought to form a united front to prevent it from winning the run-off against incumbent President Emmanuel Macron on April 24.
The police have warned of possible incidents, as demonstrators are collected in about 30 cities.
Macron, a pro-European centrist, won the presidency in 2017 after easily defeating Le Pen when voters gathered behind him in the runoff to keep her far-right party out of power.
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This year’s first round of voting last Sunday put the same battle, but Macron faces a much more difficult challenge.
Thousands gathered in central Paris, chanting anti-far-right slogans and warning of democratic upheaval if Le Pen won. One banner read: “Against the far right. For justice and equality, not Le Pen in the Elysee Palace,” referring to the French president’s official residence.
“If the far right is in power, we will see a serious collapse of the democratic, anti-racist and progressive camps,” said Dominique Sopo, president of SOS Racism, who along with dozens of human rights groups, unions and associations called for protests.
“People need to realize that despite their anger at Emmanuel Macron and his policies, there is no equivalence between a liberal, conservative candidate and a far-right candidate.
Macron, who will hold a rally in Marseilles later in the day as he tries to persuade left-wing voters to elect him on April 24, is a little ahead in opinion polls.
But before the first round on April 10, Le Pen successfully joined in the anger over the cost of living and the notion that Macron was excluded from everyday difficulties. She finished with 23.1% of the vote, compared to 27.85% for Macron.
This week, however, she looked more shaken as the focus was on her manifesto, and opinion polls showed Macron extending his lead. A poll by IPSOS-Sopra-Steria on Friday showed that the president won the runoff with 56% of the vote.
He won the support of former presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande. Hundreds of celebrities and sports figures also supported him in blocking Le Pen’s rise to power.
DEEP UNDEMOCRATIC PROTESTS
Le Pen, whose position is anti-immigration and Eurosceptic, has in recent years sought to soften his image and that of her National Rally party. Opponents, including Macron, said her program was full of lies and false promises, an accusation that Le Pen denied.
Speaking to reporters during the suspension of the campaign in southern France, Le Pen dismissed the planned protests as undemocratic.
“The restaurant is worried,” she said. “The fact that people are protesting against the election results is deeply undemocratic. I tell all these people to just go and vote. It’s that simple.”
With a fragmented and indecisive electorate, the election is likely to be won by a candidate who can reach outside his or her camp to convince voters that the other option would be much worse.
For decades, a “Republican Front” of voters of all backgrounds uniting behind a major candidate has helped keep the far right out of power.
But Macron, whose sometimes rude style and right-wing policies have upset many voters, can no longer automatically count on that support.
Stressing that choosing Macron was not an easy decision for some voters, a banner read in Paris: “Neither Le Pen nor Macron.”
Climate change activists from Extinction Rebellion have earlier called for the closure of the capital’s main square and boulevard, protesting against the two candidates’ environmental programs.
“This election leaves us no choice between a far-right candidate with disgusting ideas … and a candidate who for five years rejected the issue of ecology and lied,” Lou, 26, a history teacher who joined the rebellion movement. disappearance, two years ago, he told Reuters.
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Additional reports by Marco Trujillo Edited by Francis Carey, Ross Russell and Clelia Oziel
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