An overwhelming 94 percent of France’s National Front (FN) members have voted in favour of stripping ex-leader Jean-Marie Le Pen of his title of honorary president, the far-right party announced Wednesday. At left is a statue of Joan of Arc.
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A decision may come Thursday, or later.
Marine Le Pen suspended him from the party, however the ageing provocateur has proven little curiosity in going quietly, efficiently hard his suspension in courtroom and barging onto the stage throughout a FN rally in May.
A brief statement from the party said the 87-year-old would be “notified shortly” of the decision.
“I’m a father, so when unfair attacks come from my family, from my daughter, I am more affected than if it were an unknown opponent”, he said, adding he felt he was the “victim of an ambush”.
But Jean-Marie Le Pen, a sly political operator who is notoriously litigious, has thwarted her attempts to “kill the father” – three times. He referred to the bureau members ‘not as judges, since I recused them, but as companions in combat’.
While Marine Le Pen signed off on the complaints, she was not present at the high-stakes meeting.
But that decision was also overturned by a court, which ruled the ballot violated internal party rules. Both are part of the eight-member executive bureau. But the daily l’Opinion quotes Philippot as saying they prefer not to be both judges and accusers in what amounts to a trial.
Until recently she was considered closer to Jean-Marie than Marine, but she has expressed her shame over the recent spectacle. That unleashed the feud and series of legal disputes.
Father and daughter have battled in court three times since April, with Jean-Marie Le Pen winning each round to maintain his title as the party’s honorary president for life.
Thursday’s meeting was the second of the executive board clearly trying to push out Jean-Marie Le Pen – who has but one supporter among the eight board members.
The party fears his outbursts could sink Marine Le Pen’s 2017 presidential bid.
The National Front’s executive committee questioned Le Pen for hours today about his reiterated the remarks he had made a quarter-century ago.
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Le Pen, who brought together several nationalist movements under one party in October 1972, had repeated several anti-Semitic and racist comments on BFM TV last spring, leading to public anger and lawsuits.
