Macron Looking for €5 Million to Fund his Campaign
3 Min Read
French President Emmanuel Macron's party is looking for €5 million in funding to complete the financing of the electoral campaign.
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France's President Emmanuel Macron
Despite his late entry into the electoral race, the Party of French President Emmanuel Macron, La République en Marche (LREM), has already begun looking for donations. The LREM is looking for both small and large donors, with the latter being more hesitant about making donations than they were in 2017, according to a report by Le Monde.
In a pamphlet designed especially for the campaign, a caption reads: "5 more years, thanks to your donations."
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5 more years, thanks to your donations
In the last few weeks, LREM sent out a newsletter to its sponsors for the 2022 elections, which read: "You have already been 100,000 donors in 2017, and we're counting on you for 2022."
The party is looking for €5 million in donations to supply its electoral campaign budget, out of the €22.5 million the government had allowed each candidate that reaches the second round to spend.
€10 million in bank loans will be given to the LREM, with another €7 million from the party's own funds, as the party benefits from public financing, which they are allotted based on their results in the last parliamentary elections.
What is still missing is another €5 million, which they hope to supply through donations, as the LREM does not impose fees on its members.
Macron's campaign
Macron, who rose to power in 2017 despite lacking a powerful political party, had amassed €14 million in campaign funds, most of which he had received from wealthy donors.
Sources close to the campaign say that Macron will not put in much effort to fill the campaign's coffers, given that he was not nicknamed the president of the wealthy out of nothing; he had made a number of allies in the rich of France, both at home and abroad. Macron also staunchly opposed taxing their wealth, with the excuse being that large corporations and the rich are the reason behind investments, economic development, job creation, and France's economy with the welfare of its citizens relying on them.
Macron's opponents say that the President is not in need of financing his electoral campaign, because his position affords him leverage to promote his ideas, programs, and the allocation of public funds in a manner best serving his interests, thereby mixing his position as a candidate with that of a head of state.
