France’s Far-Right National Front Makes Breakthrough After Assaults

The far-right Front National party, headed up by the controversial Marine Le Pen, made incredible gains in the first round of regional elections in France on Sunday.

French President Francois Hollande’s ruling Socialist Party and its allies took 23.5 percent of the vote. The leaders of all three top parties are planning presidential runs in 2017, and winning support in the regionals allows for a stronger bid for president.

After a string of electoral highs, the FN broke another glass ceiling on Sunday, boosted by voters’ fears over the Paris attacks, immigration linked to the refugee crisis and record unemployment. French Socialist Party secretary Jean-Christophe Cambadelis said it was withdrawing from the second round in at least two regions where Le Pen and her niece were leading in order “to block” a run-off victory for the FN. Hollande’s Socialist Party is trailing on around 22 percent and seems likely to lose control of some regions.

France is having regional elections today, and the early returns and exit polls suggest a big win for Le Pen. We must reclaim our national borders permanently and rescind French citizenship to dual-national jihadists because they do not deserve to be considered French.

This does not mean that the National Front will ultimately govern the six regions it won.

The FN’s ratings have been rising since the Paris attacks.

“I had also warned… the authorities very clearly that there will be in these immigrants terrorists, who will infiltrate… and that’s exactly what has happened”, she said.

The BBC’s Hugh Schofield called Le Pen’s gains “an astonishing performance for a party that until very recently was regarded as beyond the pale”. Le Pen herself is poised to take power in a key northern region, which Libération notes could pave the way for her to become a front-runner in France’s presidential elections in 2017.

“We are destined to realise the national unity this country needs”, she added, promising to lead voters “on the path to greatness and happiness”.

In regional elections, candidates can qualify for the second round if they receive 10 percent of registered voters in the first round.

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.