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Showing posts with label Le Pen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Le Pen. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 01, 2012
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French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has delivered a further blow to President Nicolas Sarkozy's hopes of re-election by refusing to endorse him and telling her six million supporters to make their own choice at Sunday's ballot.
"I will not grant my trust, or a mandate, to these two candidates," she told supporters on Tuesday at an annual commemoration of Joan of Arc, the national saint her group favours to the May Day celebrations held by international labour and leftist parties.
"On Sunday, I will cast a blank ballot." – Jacky Rowland reports.
Verwandt »
REUTERS DEUTSCHLAND: Paris - In Frankreich hat die Chefin des rechtsextremen Front National, Marine Le Pen, eine Wahlempfehlung zugunsten des um sein politisches Überleben kämpfenden Präsidenten Nicolas Sarkozy abgelehnt.
Sie werde in der Stichwahl am Sonntag einen leeren Stimmzettel abgeben, kündigte Le Pen am Dienstag vor Anhängern in Paris an. Die Rechtsaußen-Partei war in der ersten Wahlrunde mit fast 18 Prozent der Stimmen überraschend stark auf Platz drei gekommen. » | Reuters | Dienstag, 01. Mai 2012
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Rachida Dati seems an unlikely figure to be wooing supporters of France's far right Front National party.
Needs must, however, and the daughter of a North African bricklayer who clawed her way to the top of the establishment ladder, before falling out of favour with President Nicolas Sarkozy, is now a key figure in his desperate battle to salvage his political career.
In his hour of need, Mr Sarkozy is rallying the troops to win over the 6.4 million French electors who voted for Marine Le Pen in the first round of the presidential election a week ago.
In response to being returned to the fold as one of the president's cheerleaders, Miss Dati has launched a spirited defence of what critics have called a "moral fault" by the current president, accusing him of veering dangerously into FN territory to save his skin.
"You cannot say that these people, 18 per cent of the electorate, are racists and xenophobic. It's not true," Miss Dati told The Sunday Telegraph in an exclusive interview.
"I have met and talked to FN voters and they are exasperated and afraid that the socialists will come to power. They are worried about Europe being a colander in terms of immigration, they are worried about companies moving elsewhere, they are worried about jobs and the cost of living, and security.
"It's for us to say to the FN voters, 'We have heard your preoccupations', to say to them that while the FN may have raised some good questions, it has proposed no solutions except rejecting others, creating scapegoats and the politics of hatred." » | Kim Willsher in Paris | Sunday, April 29, 2012
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Selon un sondage Opinionway, les deux tiers des électeurs de Nicolas Sarkozy souhaitent un accord avec le parti de Marine Le Pen avant ces élections, qui risque de se solder par une déroute de la droite en cas de défaite du président sortant au second tour de la présidentielle le 6 mai.
François Fillon explique le résultat de ce sondage par la "frustration" des électeurs de l'UMP de "voir que la gauche est minoritaire en France et qu'elle pourrait remporter l'élection présidentielle". » | Emmanuel Jarry, édité par Gérard Bon | jeudi 26 avril 2012
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Are there really 6.4 million fascists, racists or xenophobes in France? Not at all, says the French political class. Yet this question continues to dominate the final stages of the French presidential election campaign.
The Socialist François Hollande topped the first round vote on 22 April ahead of the rightwing president, Nicolas Sarkozy, creating a dynamic for the left. But Hollande and Sarkozy now face each other in a final run-off on 6 May that is far from clear cut.
The far right dominates headlines after the Front National's Marine Le Pen came third, with the party's highest ever score of 17.9%. Her 6.4 million voters now hold the result in the balance.
Sarkozy has little chance of being re-elected unless he wins over a majority of Le Pen's voters. For the unpopular president, things are extremely difficult but, political experts say, not totally impossible.
Analysts say he needs the support of around 80% of Le Pen voters to win. Polls – which vary wildly – show on average around half Le Pen voters voting Sarkozy, 20% choosing Hollande and 30% abstaining or spoiling their ballot. Sarkozy's camp says all is to play for, despite recent polls showing Hollande winning.
Meanwhile, the political class is soul-searching about what the strong Le Pen vote says about France. » | Angelique Chrisafis in Paris | Thursday, April 26, 2012
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After Le Pen took third place in Sunday's ballot with the National Front's top score in a national election, centre-right Sarkozy and Socialist front-runner Francois Hollande have courted her voters, who may decide the May 6 second round result.
Sarkozy's overtures have been more direct, saying that he respects National Front voters and would not criticise a vote for a party which has long been stigmatised. Hollande has said he understood voters who wanted to express their frustration at a stagnant economy and unemployment running at a 12-year high.
The president on Wednesday ruled out any deal with Le Pen which would give the far-right positions in the cabinet or help them win parliamentary seats in June's legislative elections.
But Sarkozy has yet to say whether he would advise supporters of his UMP party to vote Socialist rather than for the National Front in the second round of the June legislative elections to keep the far-right out of parliament.
"In case of a run-off between the National Front and a Socialist, will the UMP party and the president prefer to have one of my deputies or a Socialist deputy elected?" Le Pen said on RTL radio. » | Thursday, April 26, 2012
Sur RTL, Marine Le Pen interpelle Sarkozy et sa... by rtl-fr
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
REUTERS.COM: France's presidential rivals scrambled on Tuesday to seduce nearly a fifth of the electorate that voted for far right anti-immigration crusader Marine Le Pen, voicing sympathy for voters' distress in the economic crisis.
Conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy, fighting for his political life after being beaten into second place in Sunday's first round, hammered away at Le Pen's themes of fear of immigration, insecurity and industrial decline at public rallies and in media interviews.
"I want to talk to the little people, to the foot soldiers, to people in the countryside, to pensioners," Sarkozy told a public rally, saying the National Front leader had drawn a "crisis vote" in "the part of France that is suffering".
"You are feeling afraid," he said. "I have heard you."
Socialist challenger Francois Hollande, who topped Sunday's vote and is favorite to win a May 6 runoff, said in an interview with left-wing daily Liberation: "It's up to me to convince the voters of the National Front." » | Alexandria Sage and Yann Le Guernigou | PARIS | Writing by Paul Taylor; Editing by Myra MacDonald | Tuesday, April 24, 2012
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Monday, April 23, 2012
Francois Hollande came top with 28.6% and Mr Sarkozy got 27.1% - the first time a sitting president has lost in the first round.
Third-place Marine Le Pen took the largest share of the vote her far-right National Front has ever won, with 18%.
Referring to her voters, Mr Sarkozy said: "I have heard you."
"There was this crisis vote that doubled from one election to another - an answer must be given to this crisis vote," he said.
In a speech to supporters in Tours, Mr Sarkozy also blamed "a media unleashed" for his first round result.
"We were campaigning against caricatures and lies... and I thank you for your support," he said.
Pollsters say Mr Hollande is the clear favourite to win the second round on 6 May, a duel between him and Mr Sarkozy, who leads the centre-right UMP.
If Mr Hollande wins he will become the first Socialist president in France in 17 years.
Intense campaigning has resumed, with Mr Sarkozy travelling to Tours in the Loire Valley, central France, while Mr Hollande went to the western towns of Quimper and Lorient, in Brittany.
Speaking to around 3,000 rain-drenched supporters in Quimper, one of his strongholds, Mr Hollande described himself as the candidate of change.
He said he wanted to speak to all French people, not just the left or right.
"My message? We are a large country and we will recover - we have no need of divisions," he said. » | Monday, April 23, 2012
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LE FIGARO: Angela Merkel et plusieurs ministres européens des Affaires étrangères ont jugé lundi le résultat de Marine Le Pen «préoccupant», au lendemain du 1er tour de la présidentielle française.
Au-delà du duel serré entre les deux finalistes du second tour de l'élection présidentielle, Nicolas Sarkozy et François Hollande, c'est Marine Le Pen qui s'impose comme la troisième force politique du pays. Avec 17,9% des voix selon les résultats définitifs communiqués par le ministère de l'Intérieur lundi, le score de la candidate du Front national (FN) inquiète en France mais également au sein de l'Union européenne.
La chancelière allemande Angela Merkel a jugé «préoccupant» le score de l'extrême droite, rapporte un porte-parole du gouvernement allemand lundi. «Mais je suppose que cela va se régler au deuxième tour», a-t-il déclaré. La chancelière allemande «continue de soutenir» Nicolas Sarkozy, a ajouté le porte-parole. Il a toutefois souligné qu'Angela Merkel «travaillerait bien» avec n'importe quel président français.
De son côté, le ministre allemand des Affaires étrangères, Guido Westerwelle, s'est déclaré satisfait dans un communiqué de voir «deux candidats démocrates certifiés» au second tour. Il a réaffirmé l'importance du partenariat franco-allemand qui est «l'une des clés pour l'avenir de l'Europe». L'eurosceptique Marine Le Pen, qui estime que la France est pénalisée par l'Union européenne à cause notamment de la politique agricole commune (PAC) et de l'ouverture des frontières, se voit ainsi refuser par Guido Westerwelle l'étiquette de démocrate. » | Par Gary Assouline | lundi 23 avril 2012
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According to official forecasts, the 43-year-old daughter of the founder of the National Front (NF) secured between 18.2 and 20 per cent of the vote, performing even better than Jean Marie Le Pen’s shock result in 2002, when he won 17 per cent. At her press conference on Sunday night she burst into a rendition of La Marseillaise in front of delirious supporters waving the national flag.
“Whatever happens over the next two weeks, the battle for France has only just begun,” she said.
“We have exploded the monopoly of the two [main] parties of banks, finance, of multinationals, of resignation and abandonment, and carried higher than ever before the hopes of national ideas.
“Faced with an incumbent president at the head of a considerably weakened party, we are the only opposition to the ultra-liberal, lax and libertarian Left.”
Although it failed to take her into the second round, Miss Le Pen’s success will boost her influence on the French political scene, and is likely to hand her party seats in parliament later in the year. It could affect relations with minorities in France and in other European countries after a campaign based on rhetoric against immigrants, Islam and the European Union. » | Henry Samuel, Paris | Sunday, April 22, 2012
My comment:
France needs Marine Le Pen. France, like the UK, is tiring of the two main parties. They do nothing for France, French culture. And culture France has in abundance.
The UK had culture in abundance once too; but these days nobody stands up for it – at least not in the two main parties. If one doesn't stand up for one's culture, the culture will soon disappear – it will be swamped.
How Britain needs its own Le Pen! How Britain needs to shock the establishment into action! Would that Le Pen were a force in Britain. I, for one, despair of the same old claptrap we get in the UK. We were once a proud nation; and now? We are just a shadow of our former selves. We apologise for this, shutting the people up here and there, and refusing to stand proud.
The Conservatives, the Socialists, the Liberals – they're ALL the same: Limp-wristed, craven, spineless, and weak to a man. Oh for our own Marine Le Pen! If not for office, then certainly to shake things up. – © Mark
This comment also appears here.
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Sunday, April 22, 2012
In the run up to Sunday's first round presidential vote, it was hard to find many people in France publicly admitting they intended to vote for Marine Le Pen. Nevertheless between 18% and 20% appear to have done so – a stunning result for the far right.
It was a record for France's Front National, beating the previous best in 2002 when Le Pen's father, Jean-Marie, won his way into the second-round run-off with 17% of votes.
The surprise score reflected not only how Marine, a 43-year-old lawyer, made inroads into the French political landscape during a campaign in which she relentlessly challenged the "established" candidates, but also a deep disillusion with the main parties. She has now become the third force in the presidential campaign and a possible kingmaker in the second-round run-off in two weeks's time. » | Kim Willsher in Paris | Sunday, April 22, 2012
Friday, April 20, 2012
REUTERS FRANCE: PARIS - Marine Le Pen voit une mauvaise blague dans les propos de son père liant les initiales de Nicolas Sarkozy au national socialisme et comparant le meeting de la Concorde de l'UMP aux rassemblements nazis de Nuremberg.
Invitée vendredi sur BFM-TV/RMC, la candidate à la présidentielle du Front national a dit regretter cette déclaration, tout en rappelant que le ministre de l'Intérieur, Claude Guéant, fidèle du président sortant, l'avait traitée de "nationale et socialiste." » | Gérard Bon, édité par Gilles Trequesser | vendredi 20 avril 2012
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
REUTERS.COM: Far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen accused France's government on Thursday of surrendering poor suburbs to Islamic radicals and demanded more focus on the nation's security failings just weeks before a presidential election.
Le Pen, third in opinion polls, was speaking in the wake of the killing of three Jewish children, a rabbi and three soldiers in Toulouse. Their suspected killer, Mohamed Merah, a French citizen with Algerian origins, was killed in a hail of bullets on Thursday in a police siege.
"The government is scared," said Le Pen, who took the reins of France's anti-immigrant National Front party from her father Jean-Marie Le Pen last year.
"I've been saying this for 10 years. Entire districts are in the hands of Islamic fundamentalists and I say it again today the danger is underestimated," she told France Info radio.
"The reality dawning on the French people is that social and civil peace has been bought in a number of districts and that price is the development of (fundamentalist) networks," she said, estimating there were thousands of Islamic militants in France. » | Brian Love | Thursday, March 22, 2012
FOX NEWS: NANTERRE, France – France's far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen says there's no shame in fighting so-called Islamization and insists it won't breed a mass killer like the Norwegian Anders Behring Breivik.
Le Pen said in an interview on Wednesday with The Associated Press that Islam is taking over French neighborhoods and fighting its spread must not stop "out of fear of a crazy man." » | Associated Press | Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Monday, March 26, 2012
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Nicolas Sarkozy has blasted as “senseless” French National Front candidate Marine Le Pen’s claims that the Toulouse murders were linked to immigration.
Losing steam in the polls for round one of presidential elections on April 22, Miss Le Pen on Sunday launched a virulent attack on immigration, linking it to what she called a “green fascist” wave of Islamic fundamentalism threatening to unfurl over France after the deaths of seven this month at the hands of the self-styled al Qaeda killer.
The 23-year old Frenchman of Algerian descent was killed by elite French police in a shoot-out in his apartment last Thursday after a 32-hour siege.
“How many Mohamed Merahs are there in the boats and planes that arrive in France full of immigrants ?,” Miss Le Pen asked at a rally in Nantes, western France.
“Mohamed Merah is perhaps only the tip of the iceberg... This is not about the madness of one man but the advance of green fascism in our country."
Reacting on Monday morning, Mr Sarkozy said it was senseless to link Mr Merah to immigration as he was French. "We can't equate Mohamed Merah, born in France, French, to the children of immigrants arriving by boat,” he told France Info. “He was simply a monster.” » | Henry Samuel | Paris | Monday, March 26, 2012
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Lors d'un meeting à Bouguenais (Loire-Atlantique), en périphérie de Nantes, la candidate à l'élection présidentielle a promis de "réduire l'immigration légale de 200.000 entrées par an à 10.000 entrées par an" si elle était élue à l'Elysée.
"Combien de Mohamed Merah, dans les avions et les bateaux, qui arrivent chaque jour en France ? Combien de Mohamed Merah, dans les 300 clandestins qui arrivent chaque jour en Grèce via la Turquie, première étape de leur odyssée européenne ?", a lancé Marine Le Pen devant plus d'un millier de sympathisants. » | Par Guillaume Frouin | Reuters | dimanche 25 mars 2012
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