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Latest update: 14/02/2012
- France - French presidential election 2012 - National Front party (France)
French politicians refuse to help far right's Le Pen
France's mainstream parties dismissed suggestions they should lend a helping hand to Marine Le Pen on Monday. The far right leader unveiled her manifesto but is struggling to gain enough mayoral signatures to run in April’s presidential elections.
By FRANCE 24 (text)
Politicians among France’s mainstream parties were embroiled in a row on Monday over whether to come to the aid of the far right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen.
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Le Pen who leads the National Front party launched her presidential manifesto on Monday, but is still not legally allowed to run in the elections for the Elysée Palace.
To do so she needs signatures of support from 500 of France’s local mayors, but her party revealed on Monday they were still around 140 short. The first round of voting is now just under ten weeks away on April 22.
This week centrist presidential candidate Francois Bayrou called for France’s mainstream political groups, the UMP led by President Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande’s Socialist Party, to lend a helping hand or two to Le Pen.
The far right leader is regularly polling around 17 percent of the country’s vote and it is inconceivable to most that her name will not be on the ballot paper on April 22.
Bayrou, who heads the Democratic Movement Party (MoDem), believes Le Pen’s absence in the first round of elections on April 22 would create “disorder” around the ballot.
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If the mainstream parties were game to discuss the issue then so was he, Bayrou said, because “democracy is more important than political parties”.
“If there is a political movement, even one that I have fought against all my life, that is backed by a large number of French people but cannot express itself then it is an issue for all supporters of democracy in France,” Bayrou argued.
His contentious proposal would appear to have the backing of the French public. An opinion poll taken last month revealed 70 percent of the public believe it would be bad for democracy if Marine le Pen was unable to take part in the presidential elections.
“Backroom politics”
But even if it had public backing, the notion that local mayors would simply sign up to back Le Pen against their wishes was ridiculed by the heavyweight parties.
“An election is supposed to be a meeting between a man or a woman - meaning the candidate and the people,” Manuel Valls, director of communications for Francois Hollande, told Europe 1 radio station. “It is not about meeting up in a backroom to divide up signatures saying ‘Here you have this county and I’ll have this mayor’,” he said.
Xavier Bertrand, Labour Minster for Nicolas Sarkozy’s UMP party also rejected a request to discuss the issue.
“I am mayor of Saint-Quentin. My signature will go to Nicolas Sarkozy and nobody else,” he said.
Green Party presidential candidate Eva Joly also waded into the row. “Its not my problem so don’t count on me,” she said. “Rules are rules and they should be respected.”
For her part Marine Le Pen insisted on Monday that she would not be “begging” mayors for their signatures. Her preferred solution to a growing predicament is a change in the law which would allow the officials to give signatures anonymously.
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The question of whether the National Front will gain enough signatures is not new to the 2012 presidential election, a point not missed by politicians and the French press.
Many believe it is just a stunt to gain attention.
“It’s the same old song at every election,” said left wing newspaper Humanite. “Apart from 1981, the far right has always managed to put forward a candidate”.
Humanite’s views were backed by Prime Minister Francois Fillon.
“She will have enough signatures. The National Front play this game every election,” Fillon said in an interview with French daily Le Monde.
A “transparent”country
Le Pen shrugged off the issue Monday to announce her presidential manifesto.
In a clear bit of electioneering, Le Pen vowed to cut the number of MPs and senators from 925 to 750 and reduce the salaries of both the head of state and ministers. She also said all their expense accounts would be published on the internet and elected representatives would have their pensions capped at €5,000 a month.
Her proposals would create an “exemplary”, rigorous” and “transparent” country, Le Pen insisted. She also vowed to destroy the political structures and reconcile “the elite and the people”.
The proposals were announced outside the Palais de d’Iéna in Paris, home to the Economic, Social and Environment Council (CESE). It was a “symbolic” location Le Pen said because it was an example of a costly and “useless” state institution, which she vowed to tackle.
Le Pen is unlikely to win enough support to ever be in a position to introduce these proposals. But what is more worrying for her is whether she will even get the opportunity to campaign on them.
With her rivals turning their back on her she will need to find support from somewhere.
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Comments (9)
More sensible ideas from Marine Le Pen
The archaic French Parliament needs an urgent shake up and seems like the only one up to the job is Marine Le Pen.
If a country like Ukraine with a land mass almost double that of France and only 20% less in population can survive and thrive with 450 deputies in its parliament so can France with 750!
Any wonder the UMP and Socialists are doing everything to keep her off the ballot?
Sarkozy=Poutine
Sarkozy=Poutine
French politicians refuse to help far right's Le Pen
Perhaps it would be a good thing for the future of France and Europe if millions of French citizens do not get the right to vote while millions of immigrants do have the opportunity to vote for someone they want as leader in France.
Hopefully it will be a fertile feeding ground for the cheated millions of French to go underground and set up covert structures in defense of France. Hopefully this will then spread throughout Europe and the West.
I think that anybody who is serious the future of France and Europe will see where this could lead to.
Marine Le Pen
Le Pen vowed to cut the number of MPs and senators from 925 to 750 and reduce the salaries of both the head of state and ministers. She also said all their expense accounts would be published on the internet and elected representatives would have their pensions capped at €5,000 a month.
Does Marine Le Pen worry them?
"cut the number of MPs and
"cut the number of MPs and senators from 925 to 750 and reduce the salaries of both the head of state and ministers. She also said all their expense accounts would be published on the internet and elected representatives would have their pensions capped at €5,000 a month" ------------- I SUPPORT THIS !
Has SArko got enough
Has SArko got enough signatures? He might struggle too at this rate.
Competition is good !
Competition is good - who wants to win a one-horse race?
If Le Pen is pretending she's unable to get her 500 Mayor's signatures or not, it doesn't matter. I hope she does. It's always good to know that, despite the competition, you've won.
May the best man, or woman, win.
I hope she gets the
I hope she gets the nomination! Good luck Marine from America! <3
Democracy? What Democracy?
The establishment gets to decide who does or doesn't stand, even before the voters have their say. Forget whether you like this or that party or not, it doesn't seem fair to me.
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