The far-right, anti-establishment National Front has ridden a wave of anger over migration and extremist attacks straight into the political mainstream – where experts predict it will stay.
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The FN came first with around 28 per cent of the vote nationwide and topped the list in at least six of 13 regions.
On Sunday, Marine Le Pen and Marion Marechal-Le Pen – respectively the daughter and grand-daughter of the FN’s firebrand founder, Jean-Marie Le Pen – established themselves as major players in France’s political landscape.
The FN’s success on Sunday has triggered an immediate debate on whether the traditional parties should urge voters to back any candidate opposing the far-right in the second round.
But Sarkozy confirmed that conservative candidates would contest the elections in the three regions where Socialist candidates are withdrawing from the December 13 runoff vote.
He said his party should refuse to ally with any National Front candidates or to pull out of any races in the second round.
Le Pen, 47, and her telegenic 25-year-old niece Marion Marechal-Le Pen broke the symbolic 40-percent mark in their respective regions of Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie and Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur.
But his Socialist Party has languished behind the FN and the centre-right Republicans led by former president Nicolas Sarkozy.
Appearing before her supporters, Ms. Le Pen called it a “magnificent” result, saying the National Front was “the only party that can reconquer the lost territories of the republic, of Calais, where we won 50 percent of the votes, or of the suburbs”.
Jacques Sapir, Director of Studies at the French School for Advanced Studies in Social Sciences told Sputnik that Le Pen could win in the first round of presidential election, however French political system would allow her rivals to achieve victory in the second one.
“It’s the future of France that is at stake”, party leader Jean-Christophe Cambadelis said on Monday.
Sarkozy, who is head of The Republicans nationally and is preparing for another run at the presidency, appealed to National Front voters to consider his party when they return to the polls next week.
A crucial second round of voting takes place next Sunday. In national scale, Front National was first party by gaining 29.5 percent of votes. Experts on French politics however believe that the political atmosphere has been incrementally moving in this direction for some time, largely due to more extreme rhetoric across the political spectrum.
On Monday, Marine Le Pen was careful not to claim victory, and also denounced the Socialists’ tactics as anti-democratic.
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Founded in 1972 by Marine’s father, Jean-Marie, the NF, or Front national (FN) in French, is France’s ultra nationalist party. If anything, the Paris attacks were a vindication for Le Pen, who had long promised to strengthen French security forces and resist European Union integration.
