France Elections: Le Pen Says Political Elite ‘Crumbling’

They put the FN ahead in at least six of 13 regions in mainland France, The BBC said.

The second round of elections will be held on 13 December and the result will be certain after that.

The socialists of president Francois Hollande have already begun withdrawing candidates, but Mr Sarkozy, leader of the centre-right Republicans, ruled out any tactical alliance.

The National Front denounces Europe’s open borders, what it calls the “migratory submersion” and what it claims is the corrupting influence of Islam on French civilization.

“To pull out a candidate on the second round is rather unfair”. Socialist leader Jean-Christophe Cambadelis called for his party to withdraw from the runoff in both races in hopes of keeping the National Front from winning.

Victories for the Front National in regional election polls suggest that French voters are looking to take a hard-line on extremism and immigration.

The exit polls on Sunday evening showed National Front, or FN, in first place on 30.6% of the vote.

“We’re not home and dry yet, especially since the election is being run in an unfair way”, she told French radio RTL. According to them, it would be necessary to desist to stem the rise of the Front National where the party came in third.

Of course triumph for the FN will not necessarily translate into power.

The big unknown is whether these regional elections are a genuine barometer of the results in 2017.

Voters are choosing leadership councils for the regions, and had the choice of several parties in the first round. In its former life, people were often too ashamed to reveal that they had voted for the National Front. Others are not beyond reach. The party was historically associated with xenophobic, racist or antisemitic stances, but since taking charge Ms Le Pen has worked to soften its image and distance herself from her father.

Political tectonic plates are shifting in France.

Widespread anxiety about immigration and the fear of further terrorist attacks are believed to have boosted the FN’s support.

Le Pen and her telegenic niece broke the symbolic 40-percent barrier in their respective regions of Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie and Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur, which includes the cities of Marseille and Nice.

FN leader Marine Le Pen gave a triumphant victory speech, declaring this the start of a new era in politics where her ideas would dominate.

She said: “The French people have had enough of being treated like a herd of sheep”. Last spring, it got 25 percent at the first round of local elections but failed to win any departments.