Marine le Pen is the leader of the National Front, the Far Right party in France and came third in Frances's first round of presidential voting yesterday ( yes, this is France , they vote once to whittle the candidates down to the top two and then a second vote will be held in a few weeks time) Born in 1968, she took over the National Front in 2011 from her Father, Jean Marie Le Pen. Married and twice divorced, she is the Mother of three children and is a lawyer by profession. The National Front is a party that opposes immigration, particularly Muslim immigration from North Africa and the Middle East and in previous campaigns has proposed to send the three million non-Europeans out of France by "humane and dignified means." It's a political party that has in the past, canvassed for historic revisionism, claiming that the Holocaust figures were greatly exaggerated as was the Nazi occupation of France. "The Nazi gas chambers were just a point of detail in the second world war" claimed Jean Marie Le Pen. If his youngest daughter, Marine, became president ....
The French Franc would be re-introduced and the euro binned
Foreigners would never be allowed to vote or obtain nationality
France would be a protected state "favouring secularism and prosperity"
There would be total and utter opposition to free trade
As a strong euro sceptic, France would leave the EU
She would pull France out of NATO
She would have nothing to do with the WTO, World Bank or the IMF
She would end legal immigration and all illegal immigrants would be sent packing
Any law breaking immigrants would be deported
French people would be first - for jobs, welfare and accommodation
The death penalty would be re-introduced
Her message is clear, France is for the French and she doesn't want any other nationalities muddying the waters .. When she took over the reins of the party from her Dad, JM Le Pen, she tried to tone down his neo nazi extreme far right sentiments, but now and then , she drops herself in it, like her comment at a recent speech when she called the regular blocking of public streets for Muslim prayers in French cities an "occupation of parts of the territory" .
She has taken on the job of softening the National Front's image by supporting womens' rights and gay rights, but in reality, her views may be alot more extreme than she would have us believe and there are many who question her actual 'Islamaphobia'
1 out of 4 voters in Perpignan voted for this lady yesterday
I'd just like to add, she's popular right now because of the recession. Whenever recessions happen people always turn extreme and more right or left wing. Usually right wing It's how Nazis and Bolshevics took control.
I think it really important to remember that all these anti immigration arguments are a very handy smokescreen for keeping the money in the hands of the big banks, and real power with the wealthy minority, who still pay lower taxes than the poorer majority. It's a feudal system that we still have and has never really changed.People who want change should focus their attention on internet freedom, tax law and the right to free speech and protest.
Yes, rural areas are far more conservative/right wing than urban ones which are traditionally left wing. The big change is that Marine has managed to grab a lot of urban votes and move out of her south east and northern strongholds. They've been analysing the voting behaviour the last couple of nights on the tely, it's pretty interesting, and "shocking" for a lot of people living in the Gard where Marine came out on top...!
I had a quick look at the results in my area and found that the smaller the town or village (including mine!) the more right wing it was, with Sarko first and Le Pen second and in larger towns Holland was first. Do you think this is typical?
I think one of the things that freaks out the Brits is that France actually has vibrant politics.
They admit to voting for the Trotskyites or the FN without batting an eyelid.
While Le Penn's mob fill me with dread, that the elections – local or national – have real political messages ( as opposed to the soft centre waffle of most UK political parties ) I find refreshing.
I live in a small french village where Marine Le Pen won the majority of votes in the first round. I get the feeling that the french are fed up with Sarkozy and fed up with immigrants in France .They believe that Hollande will not make any difference and so vote for Marine Le Pen. In my village there was a hate campaign against an Algerian and he eventually left. The only english people living in the village have also left. I think I`m only tolerated because I`m married to a french man. Even today my cleaning lady expressed her frustration about `all the arabs` and said that a vote for Hollande and the socialists would only mean the further money being paid to the arabs! I think that if Marine Le Pen was successful in becoming president it would be any one not french who would be made unwelcome. Ok it`s not going to happen this time round but what about in five years time? Marine Le Pen, her party and her supporters are not going to go away!!
Hollande will win... Most people voted for her because of what mohammed merah did in toulouse and montauban, they are scared of arabs etc sick of them bleeding the state dry of french impots.. while the french work and drive in renaults they sit at home and drive round in BMWs!! I am not at all for Le Pen but i can understand why some french voted for her!
But she is scary and would she only stop at non europeens.. !! Sadly to say MY boyfriend voted for her, when I begged him to vote Eva Joly ( he doesn't care about the votes and did it purely cos he didn't want either hollande or sarko!!)
either way any one of the top two will see us all swilling like pigs in mud baths, french and english alike! this country is doomed and its getting worse!! if sarko is taken abck again i will seriously consider moving back to UK as it is too expensive for us to live here!!! :(