Far Right National Front Wins French Elections
National Front leader Marine Le Pen called for the dissolution of the French national assembly on Sunday after exit polls showed her anti-immigrant, Eurosceptic party winning European Parliament elections in France.
“What else can the president do after such a rejection?” Le Pen told reporters at National Front headquarters when asked if President Francois Hollande – whose ruling Socialists were well behind in third place – should dissolve the national parliament.
“It is unacceptable that the assembly should be so unrepresentative of the French people.”
Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius swiftly played down the chances of such a move – which, given Hollande’s record unpopularity, would almost certainly mean his Socialists losing their current majority – but acknowledged that the National Front’s performance was “an earthquake”.
Pollster Ifop estimated that Le Pen’s National Front party would score between 22 and 25 seats in the new European Parliament – up from the three it currently holds.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO