One of the biggest tests will be southeast France, where he backed the candidacy of Christian Estrosi, who in the first round came 14 percentage points behind 25-year-old Marion Marechal-Le Pen, the youngest family member of the FN political dynasty.
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PARIS French far-right leader Marine Le Pen on Thursday lashed out at what she called “undemocratic” behaviour by mainstream parties after polls showed tactical voting could keep her party out of power in key regions. Their shared hostility to Turkey has only strengthened the ties between the populist radical right in Europe and the authoritarian Russian leadership. Where, after the terrorist attacks on Paris this year, Sarkozy or Hollande appeared weak, appeasing and fearful of the mob-like response of the demos, Le Pen appeared strong, and willing to assert a French national identity, willing to say what France stands for.
It reminded that after a couple who had pledged allegiance to Islamic State (IS) murdered 14 people in San Bernardino, California this week, Donald Trump, the front-runner in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, called for a “total and complete shutdown” of America’s borders to Muslims and earlier had proposed closing mosques and registering American Muslims. Trump is not beholden to a political party like Le Pen and, despite his remarks, is not consistently ideological in the fashion of the National Front and other far-right political parties in Europe.
Le Pen said that was too much for her, perhaps in part because she feared jeopardizing the progress she had made in shedding her party’s previous image as racist and anti-Semitic.
“It’s important, even crucial for Le Pen to get a victory in these elections”, said Stephane Zumsteeg, head of opinion polling at Ipsos in Paris.
“I am convinced that the Socialist voters will be able to go vote for the opposition this Sunday to defeat the National Front”, Socialist Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on France Inter radio Friday, referring to The Republicans led by Nicolas Sarkozy, the former French president. “And they’re also profoundly dissatisfied with domestic political elites”, he said. We always have, she says.
“No matter how the National Front is going to handle things, whether they succeed or not, at least we are certain they will bring change”, he added.
In all the countries, he said, “the same people have been governing for a long time and they have completely let down the indigenous inhabitants, particularly at the lower end of the economic spectrum”. The Republicans have decided not to follow the Socialists’ example of pulling out in regions where they are third-placed. They don’t seek support, or increasingly legitimacy, from the populace; rather, they seek refuge in the European Union.
Recent issues clearly shaped the election results.
The actions of FN politicians who became town mayors past year might also offer clues – David Rachline took down the European Union flag from the front of Frejus town hall in southeastern France, while Steeve Briois ended the practice of giving a human rights group free use of municipal premises of Henin-Beaumont in the north. All week, elected officials from both sides have been urging the large number of voters who stayed home last weekend to turn out Sunday to block the National Front. Jean-Yves Camus, an expert on the FN and co-author of “The Far Right in Europe”, said the FN’s trump card was its lack of experience.
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An adviser to Le Pen praised Cameron’s approach, which he said had legitimized the FN’s policies.
