Fears of far right in French election
Source: Agencies |
March 28, 2011, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
FRENCH voters went to the polls yesterday in local elections that have caused alarm in President Nicolas Sarkozy's ruling party since the far-right National Front surged in first-round voting.
The result will offer a snapshot of the national mood a year before presidential elections, as well as dictating whether the anti-immigrant National Front gains a foothold in a handful of local councils, levers of grassroots political power.
Sarkozy's personal popularity ratings are at record lows and his UMP party's poor performance in the first round of the local contest a week ago has exposed divisions among his own political troops as they worry about being overtaken on the right.
In the first round last Sunday, the Socialist Party scored best with 25 percent of votes, followed by Sarkozy's centre-right UMP party with 17 percent and the National Front close behind with 15 percent, - a record for the far-right party.
That came hot on the heels of opinion polls suggesting that Marine Le Pen, a tough-talking 42-year-old lawyer who took over as party chief from her ex-paratrooper father in January, could score more than Sarkozy in the opening round of a presidential contest.
Jean-Marie Le Pen shocked France and the world when he made it to the second round of the presidential election is 2002, and his daughter hopes to do likewise.
The party has a fresher face but is struggling to cast off an extremist image; it announced the expulsion on Saturday of one local election candidate after a magazine website published a photograph of him giving a Nazi salute.
More than 21 million people can vote in the local elections but only 9.5 million did so in round one, pushing the abstention rate to a record 56 percent in the last direct elections before presidential and legislative showdowns in the second quarter of 2012.
Local councils take care of everyday things, such as building roads and schools, as well as the distribution of various welfare subsidies. This election concerns 2,026 council seats, with 1,566 still up for grabs after the first round.
Because the voting system favours alliances and the larger parties, the National Front was unlikely to win scores of seats but it hoped to win some to prove it is no longer seen solely as a pariah party that picks up protest votes.
The opposition Socialist Party, which is expected to extend its domination of local political power, has urged left-wingers to vote for Sarkozy's conservatives, if it comes down to that, to shut out National Front candidates.
Sarkozy's UMP has urged right-wingers to shun the National Front but not necessarily by voting Socialist.
The result will offer a snapshot of the national mood a year before presidential elections, as well as dictating whether the anti-immigrant National Front gains a foothold in a handful of local councils, levers of grassroots political power.
Sarkozy's personal popularity ratings are at record lows and his UMP party's poor performance in the first round of the local contest a week ago has exposed divisions among his own political troops as they worry about being overtaken on the right.
In the first round last Sunday, the Socialist Party scored best with 25 percent of votes, followed by Sarkozy's centre-right UMP party with 17 percent and the National Front close behind with 15 percent, - a record for the far-right party.
That came hot on the heels of opinion polls suggesting that Marine Le Pen, a tough-talking 42-year-old lawyer who took over as party chief from her ex-paratrooper father in January, could score more than Sarkozy in the opening round of a presidential contest.
Jean-Marie Le Pen shocked France and the world when he made it to the second round of the presidential election is 2002, and his daughter hopes to do likewise.
The party has a fresher face but is struggling to cast off an extremist image; it announced the expulsion on Saturday of one local election candidate after a magazine website published a photograph of him giving a Nazi salute.
More than 21 million people can vote in the local elections but only 9.5 million did so in round one, pushing the abstention rate to a record 56 percent in the last direct elections before presidential and legislative showdowns in the second quarter of 2012.
Local councils take care of everyday things, such as building roads and schools, as well as the distribution of various welfare subsidies. This election concerns 2,026 council seats, with 1,566 still up for grabs after the first round.
Because the voting system favours alliances and the larger parties, the National Front was unlikely to win scores of seats but it hoped to win some to prove it is no longer seen solely as a pariah party that picks up protest votes.
The opposition Socialist Party, which is expected to extend its domination of local political power, has urged left-wingers to vote for Sarkozy's conservatives, if it comes down to that, to shut out National Front candidates.
Sarkozy's UMP has urged right-wingers to shun the National Front but not necessarily by voting Socialist.
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