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Monday, March 31, 2014

Reaction to Far Right’s National Front Wins in French Vote

A promotional video by the National Front Party on March 27 in which Marine Le Pen appeals to her supporters via the Internet after the first round of municipal elections, commending their patriotism and calling on them to mobilize for the second round.

PARIS - News that France’s far-right National Front party was set to take control of 11 towns across France following municipal elections on Sunday was greeted with a mix of nationalist triumphalism and more than a little fear.

The party, which rails against the European Union, immigration and untrammeled capitalism, attained its best result in municipal elections since the late 1990s when it ruled four towns.

Its relative triumph â€" and the success of the rightist parties in general â€" was seen as a harsh rebuke of the country’s Socialist president, François Hollande. Once nicknamed for a brand of wobbly caramel pudding, his perceived weak leadership and stewardship of a faltering economy have alienated many French.

The National Front’s leader, Marine Le Pen, in contrast, has sought to portray herself as a strong and modern-day Marianne, the female symbol of the French Republic, and her potent cocktail of feel good nationalism and immigrant baiting has appealed to voters.

Heralding a new era in French politics, she told French television Sunday that the National Front had finally broken the stranglehold of the two main political parties. “We have moved on to a new level,” she said. “There is now a third major political force in our country.”