Le Pen hands reins to daughter
Source: Agencies |
January 17, 2011, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
FRANCE'S far-right National Front said yesterday Marine Le Pen had been elected to take over as party chief from her 82-year-old father Jean-Marie Le Pen, clearing the way for her to mount a -presidential bid.
The party her father -founded in 1972 announced her victory at a meeting west of Paris.
"Marine is a different person but our references are the same," Jean-Marie said.
"She is a woman, 40 years younger than me and in tune with the times." The 82-year-old party founder bid farewell on Saturday with an impassioned defense of his polemic anti-immigration, anti-Islam platform.
Giving the hard-right party a fresh, somewhat less abrasive face has won Marine Le Pen points in opinion polls, and her popularity suggests she could eat into the ruling center-right UMP party's vote in the spring 2012 election.
President Nicolas Sarkozy is expected to run for re-election next year in a tough battle against a resurgent left.
Polls rank him as one of France's most unpopular presidents, his ratings dipping below 30 percent in some surveys last year as even mainstream conservative voters grew tired of economic gloom, government scandals, pension reform and perceptions of a flashy, unpredictable leader.
While most French people strongly oppose the National Front, the party sent tremors through the country in 2002 when Jean-Marie Le Pen reached a second-round runoff against Jacques Chirac in the presidential election.
While Le Pen failed in all five of his presidential bids over nearly 40 years, the party's ability to win a steady 15 percent of the vote enables it to influence political debate.
A mother of three, Marine Le Pen is seen as the kinder, gentler face of a party known for its extreme stances.
The party her father -founded in 1972 announced her victory at a meeting west of Paris.
"Marine is a different person but our references are the same," Jean-Marie said.
"She is a woman, 40 years younger than me and in tune with the times." The 82-year-old party founder bid farewell on Saturday with an impassioned defense of his polemic anti-immigration, anti-Islam platform.
Giving the hard-right party a fresh, somewhat less abrasive face has won Marine Le Pen points in opinion polls, and her popularity suggests she could eat into the ruling center-right UMP party's vote in the spring 2012 election.
President Nicolas Sarkozy is expected to run for re-election next year in a tough battle against a resurgent left.
Polls rank him as one of France's most unpopular presidents, his ratings dipping below 30 percent in some surveys last year as even mainstream conservative voters grew tired of economic gloom, government scandals, pension reform and perceptions of a flashy, unpredictable leader.
While most French people strongly oppose the National Front, the party sent tremors through the country in 2002 when Jean-Marie Le Pen reached a second-round runoff against Jacques Chirac in the presidential election.
While Le Pen failed in all five of his presidential bids over nearly 40 years, the party's ability to win a steady 15 percent of the vote enables it to influence political debate.
A mother of three, Marine Le Pen is seen as the kinder, gentler face of a party known for its extreme stances.
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