Instead, Sarkozy’s conservative party came behind the far-right in the first round of regional elections on Sunday, and the ex-president finds himself under growing criticism from within his own camp.
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The rise of the Front National could lead to civil war in France, Prime Minister Manuel Valls has warned, ahead of the second round of regional elections on Sunday that could bring real power to the far-Right party. The socialists ran this region for the last 18 years, but they did so poorly in last weekend’s first round that the party has dropped out of the race entirely.
Florian Philippot, FN vice president, who in the first round took pole position with nearly 40 per cent of the vote in an eastern region, also condemned the prime minister’s attack on his party.
“We have reached a historic moment where the bottom line for our country is a choice between two options”, said Mr Valls.
“For the citizen who vents his anger, a vote for the National Front is a “useful” vote”, Alexis Brezet wrote in a Le Figaro editorial. The party, which now has four lawmakers in parliament, is opposed to the European Union and the euro currency and fears that Muslim immigrants will supplant French civilization, replacing church bells with calls to prayer. Le Pen asked during an interview on a French TV program, according to The New York Times.
Le Pen led by a wide margin in the first round of voting on 6 December, but a poll by TNS-Sofres-OnePoint published on Wednesday suggested both Le Pen and her niece, Marion Maréchal-Le Pen, who is running in the south, would lose in the final round. She immediately set about changing its anti-Semitic image to make it less toxic to voters and undo its pariah status.
BEARDSLEY: That normal face of the National Front is drawing more women and young people who say they’re ready to try something new. Wheras the senior Le Pen was an outright racist with unrealistic platforms, Lopatin described Marie Le Pen as being more diplomatic, realistic and reserved.
“The big showdown will be for Monday and it could well be bloody”, said a senior lawmaker, who declined to be named because Sarkozy has urged party officials to keep their views to themselves before the runoff.
In Greece, anti-austerity Syriza party has transformed from a fringe party to now the governing party of the struggling country. The National Front is France’s number one party. 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.
“Standing together and solidarity in Europe are now more important than ever, including in dealing with the question of refugees”, Gabriel was quoted as telling the Bild newspaper.
She said she would also scrap development aid subsidies and use the money instead to boost exports for French firms. For many years, on both sides of the Atlantic, they have thrived on the belief that a selfish elite cannot-or will not-deal with the problems of ordinary working people. That fear is despite some polls showing the National Front won’t do as well on Sunday.
“Nationalism and tribalism and faith – these are the driving forces now and they are tearing apart transnational institutions all over the world”, he said.
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The National Front leader can also learn from her mistakes: Unlike after the Charlie Hebdo attack last January, she didn’t denounce those who expressed solidarity with the victims as “clowns”, and her “told you so” utterances were relatively humble.
