Two important Muslim organizations have thrown their support behind Emmanuel Macron for the second round of voting in France’s presidential elections.
This week, Master Chems-Eddine Hafiz, rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, sponsored an iftar [breaking of the Ramadan fast] in support of the re-election of Emmanuel Macron as president of the republic. The meal took place Tuesday at the restaurant of the Paris mosque, where representatives of other groups, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, were also present.
“Until the last moment,” Macron himself intended to be present but was impeded by “current political events” and “tensions over Ukraine,” said Master Hafiz, a Franco-Algerian lawyer. In his stead, Macron sent former Minister of the Interior Christophe Castaner to attend the event.
The Grand Mosque of Paris has joined the Assembly of Muslims of France (RMF) in supporting Mr. Macron in the presidential run-off against his opponent Marine Le Pen, which will take place on Sunday, April 24.
“Malicious forces are speaking out today calling for the banishment of Muslims,” Hafiz said in a press release last week. “How to react to this trivializing malevolence that settles in people’s minds? By voting for the continuity of the Republic.”
Insisting that failing to vote will “strengthen the extreme right,” Hafiz urged a vote for moderation.
“Stop procrastinating. Stop misinformation. Let’s vote for Emmanuel Macron,” he urged. “Let us vote for the spirit of the happy medium to prevail over the extremes.”
In its own press release, the Moroccan-linked RMF, chaired by Anouar Kbibech, appealed “to make republican values triumph” by reelecting Macron.
“While being aware of the obligation of political neutrality required by our mission, we must act first as responsible citizens,” Kbibech said, adding that “only a vote for Emmanuel Macron will allow our country to preserve its republican principles and consolidate the values of openness, tolerance and solidarity that have always animated it.”