Business is business. Three days after the first round of the presidential election which gave birth to a Macron vs Le Pen duel for the second round, the Medef of Hauts-de-France gave its voting instructions. Or rather to give the instruction to go and vote without taking sides with one or the other of the candidates. If the bosses of the region say a big “no”, it is only to abstention.
The Medef is for companies the equivalent of trade unions for employees. That of Hauts-de-France federates 10 local Medef, which represents thousands of companies and tens of thousands of employees. In other words, it is a movement that has weight and that the political class necessarily listens to. And precisely, in this between-two rounds of the presidential election, the employers’ organization had a message to convey. Not to the candidates, no, but to the voters, a bit like the voting instructions issued by the unsuccessful candidates on the evening of the first round.
Economically speaking, Medef votes Macron
“Without hesitation, the Medef Hauts-de-France says no to abstention”, writes the movement in a press release. “Our duty as committed business leaders is to remind loud and clear that democracy is a precious good that must be defended without hesitation,” added Patrice Pennel, president of the regional Medef. An assumed absence of a position for one or other of the finalists, the organization claiming to be “pro business”.
Apolitical, really? Not that much after all, even if the Medef Hauts-de-France does not clearly call for a vote for LREM or for the RN. On the other hand, the employers’ union believes that “Emmanuel Macron’s economic program is the most favorable to growth and employment”, while an alert is issued “on the consequences of that of Marine Le Pen”.
Source: 20minutes
