“Malicious forces are speaking out today and calling for the banishment of Muslims,” wrote the rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris (GMP). The latter and another Muslim federation, the Rally of Muslims of France (RMF) call this Friday to vote for Emmanuel Macron in the second round of the presidential election, in two separate press releases.
“How to react to this malevolence that trivializes and settles in people’s minds? By voting in the continuity of the Republic”, declared the rector of the GMP (close to Algeria), Chems-eddine Hafiz, in a first press release. “Stop procrastinating. Stop misinformation. Let’s vote Emmanuel Macron,” he added. “Let us vote for the spirit of the happy medium to prevail over the extremes”. The rector also judges that “abstention and the white vote will strengthen the far right”. He had already signed a column in Le Monde last February, calling on Muslims in France to register on the electoral lists for the presidential election.
“France is living a watershed moment and so are its Muslim citizens. Their destiny, like that of the entire national community, is being played out at the ballot box during the second round of the presidential election,” added Chems-eddine Hafiz in a video posted by the Great Mosque’s Twitter account.
In a separate press release, the RMF (close to Morocco), chaired by Anouar Kbibech, calls for “to make republican values triumph”. “While being aware of the obligation of political neutrality required by our mission, we must act first as responsible citizens. Also, we consider that only the vote for Emmanuel Macron allows our country to preserve the republican principles and to consolidate the values of openness, tolerance and solidarity which have always animated it”, he affirms.