“It’s getting closer”, warns French leftist daily Libération on its front page Monday, alongside a blurry picture of France’s National Front leader Marine Le Pen, one day after her far-right party topped the vote in the first round of the country’s regional elections. The party won in six of France’s 13 metropolitan regions in the first round of voting December 6, and it came in second in three other regions.
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Ms Marechal-Le Pen, meanwhile, also scored above 40 per cent in final estimates for the vast Provence-Alpes-Cote-d’Azur (Paca) region in the south, placing her on course for a landmark win next week. It is the last election before France votes for president in 2017, and a gauge of the country’s political direction.
In a third region where the National Front came in first and the Socialist Party third, Jean-Pierre Masseret, the left-wing candidate in the Alsace-Lorraine-Champagne-Ardenne – the “East” region – has refused to withdraw. Add to this a general unwillingness on the liberal Left to grapple with the politics of integration, and fertile ground has been sown for the kind of hatred spewed by the white fascistic Right.
“The verdict of the French tonight is clear”, Nicolas Sarkozy, former French president and leader of Les Republicains – included in the right-wing grouping – said in his post-election speech.
Meanwhile, France’s mainstream parties are aiming to undo the National Front victories in six of the nation’s 13 regions before the final round. Key to her high score was the resounding vote for her in the northern port of Calais, where the far right has benefited from controversy over the refugee crisis and thousands of migrants and refugees sleeping rough in the makeshift “new jungle” camp trying to reach Britain.
The National Front denounces Europe’s open borders, what it calls the “migratory submersion” and what it claims is the corrupting influence of Islam on French civilization. Le Pen, who has gradually built up a far-right powerbase there, could take control of the region next week. This executive experience could bolster the party’s bona fides ahead of the presidential election.
“There is too big of a risk of victory for the National Front for us to keep our candidates in this region”, said Bruno Le Roux, who is the Socialists’ leader in the lower house of parliament.
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National Front was expected to perform well in the elections, and it has picked up much more support in the past few years, but it may have gained even more in the aftermath of the brutal attacks on Paris in November.
