France’s Socialists to withdraw from two regions to block far-right

TV exit polls, released late on Sunday, showed that Le Pen and her 25-year-old niece Marion Marechal-Le Pen gained more than 40 percent of the vote in north and southeastern France.

As expected, president Francois Hollande’s ruling Socialists came third, polling 22.7 per cent.

Speaking Monday on RTL radio, Jean-Christophe Cambadelis, Secretary General of the Socialist Party, reiterated the will of his party to withdraw candidates in these two regions. Commentators say the polls, which were held under a state of emergency, also show voters have lost faith in mainstream parties, which are seen as not offering any distinguishable programme.

Le Pen, who herself topped the poll as lead candidate in the Nord-Pas de Calais-Picardie region where the migrant crisis is symbolized by the migrant camps outside Calais, refrained from claiming victory.

 A possible Republican-Socialist alliance to limit FN gains in the second round had previously been mooted, but Mr. Sarkozy, the former president, ruled this out on Sunday.

They put the FN ahead in at least six of 13 regions in mainland France.

Marion Marechal-Le Pen blows a kiss as she delivers her speech after the announcement of the results during the first round of the regional elections in Le Pontet, near Avignon, France, December 6, 2015.

In the first round of voting, the country’s National Front party (Front Nationale) beat out both the governing Socialist Party and the centre-right opposition. “We must hear and understand the profound exasperation of the French people”, he said. But his party, which now runs almost all of France’s regions, has seen its electoral support shrivel as the government has failed to shrink 10 percent joblessness or invigorate the economy.

In the current atmosphere of insecurity and rising unemployment, Le Pen says she predicted numerous problems besetting the country today, as did her father, former National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen.

Shortly after the attacks, Le Pen penned an op-ed for Time magazine laying out her party’s plan for stopping similar attacks in the future.

For the Front National, Sunday’s results are a confirmation of good performances in previous elections.

“Voting for FN, taking the risk to make regions switching to the National Front is to add misfortune to misfortune”, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, vice president of the Republicans party told RTL radio.

Socialist Prime Minister Manuel Valls and the conservative-leaning national business lobby issued a public appeal this week to stop the National Front’s march toward victory.