Wags in France are calling for the election Barack Obama as the next president of France.
When four friends were disheartened by their electoral choices for the French elections, they jokingly launched a campaign to see the former US president run in the French presidential election.
The organisers said they formulated the idea while enjoying some beers. They launched a website and began plastering Obama17 posters around Paris which have the theme “Oui on puet”, taken from Obama’s 2008 campaign Yes We Can slogan.
An online petition posted by the group on their site Obama2017.fr has been signed by more than 42,000 people.
“Barack Obama has completed his second term as president of the United States … why not hire him as president for France?” the website says, adding that what they really want is more inspirational leadership
French voters cast their ballots on 23 April and again on 7 May unless a candidate has polled more than 50% in the first round.
Obama does not hold French citizenship, so is not eligible to run.
Polls indicate that the far-right candidate Marine LePen has a significant lead in the first round of the election but likely to lose in the second round to either centre-right Francois Fillon or centrist Emmanuel Macron.
"We think we can do something else than the extreme," said one of the organisers, who prefer to remain anonymous in order to focus on the campaign rather than them.
"We are anti-political, we are not against any candidate in particular, but we are not a big fan of any of them. [The campaign is] a way to say 'Guys, eh wake up - you are uncool, and this campaign is uncool - we'd rather have Obama'."
The organiser said, however, that the French media has failed to get the joke and noted that they “want this to stay on the joke level”.
