French National Front political party leader and candidate Marine Le Pen had won the first round lead in regional elections. It is for the first time, that the extreme-right National Front (FN) party has won the national election. Ahead of the traditional socialist and republican parties.
It was the first electoral test since last month’s Paris attacks, in which 130 people killed.
The nationalist FN got about 28%, ahead of the centre-right Republicans party led by former President Nicolas Sarkozy, which polled just under 27%, and the governing Socialist Party (PS), trailing with 23.5%.
Condemned as racist and anti-Semitic by the opposition, the anti-immigration party is set to break the grip of Socialists and Conservatives who have long dominated French politics.
citizens of the democratic left and right in the regions under threat must bury their differences this week and come to the polls with a single goal in mind, that of preventing a gang of adventurers, saboteurs of our system of governance and citizenship, from reaching top positions in local government.
If the power of regions in French politics remains limited as opposed to the German Landers, Le Pen’s likely victory in Lille – as well as that of her niece in Marseilles – will provide the xenophobic movement with a tribune to spread its populistic and narrow-minded political platform.
The French population has rarely been able to assess the ineptitude of the National Front leaders or to realise the real dangers that the extreme-right party represents.
While other minority parties have been regularly forced to ally with other forces, soften its political positions and accept compromises. The National Front embraced the role of outcast, which allowed it to grow outside of the spotlight.
Political parties in France receive public funds on the basis of the number of elected members -was swiftly alleviated when the party reportedly received loans from Russian banks earlier this year.
After a few years of National Front administration, each city ended up in severe debt and unable to balance budgets despite severe cuts in spending in culture and social welfare.
The terrorist actions from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have been an opportunity for Le Pen to target Muslim minorities.
Those who continue to vote for Marine Le Pen simply fail to realise the obvious contradiction of their act. Those who prefer favouring short-term electoral interests, such as Nicolas Sarkozy, are the favourite allies of anti-republican forces.