Juliette Binoche, Charlotte Gainsbourg Among More Than 400 French Artists to Sign Plea Urging Voters to Support President Emmanuel Macron
variety.comElsa Keslassy International CorrespondentMore than 400 French artists and entertainment figures, including Juliette Binoche and Charlotte Gainsbourg, have signed a emotionally charged op-ed published in Le Monde newspaper on April 15 to urge people to vote for incumbent President Emmanuel Macron during the election runoff on April 24.The letter is aimed at those who may not support Macron’s politics, probably didn’t vote for him during the first round of the election and are now inclined to abstain from going to the polls next Sunday.
Actors, filmmakers, musicians, artists and producers who signed the plea argue that casting a ballot in favor of Macron, a pro-EU centrist, is an absolute necessity as it is the only way to beat far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.
Like in 2017, Macron and Le Pen qualified for the runoff with 27.84% and 23.15% of the vote, respectively. Many people in the film and cultural industries voted for Jean-Luc Melenchon, the hardleft candidate and leader of La France Insoumise party.
After being defeated with 21.95 % of the vote, Melenchon called on his supporters to not give a single vote to far-right candidate Marine Le Pen but elected against encouraging them to go vote for Macron.It’s the third time a far-right candidate makes it to the second round of the election since the Fifth Republic was established by Charles de Gaulle in 1958.
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