Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Why Marine Le Pen Will Not Be the Next French President


By Gilles Ivaldi, researcher in politics, CNRS-University of Nice

Radical right National Front (FN) leader Marine Le Pen is set to top the first round of the next presidential election in France. Current polls suggest that she could win over a quarter of the vote, making it through to the presidential run-off.

Like the rest of Europe, the radical right surge in France is fueled by cultural and economic fears over immigration, globalisation and Islam.

Since 2012, the FN has been thriving on the economic crisis, effectively channeling voter anger over President Hollande’s failure to deliver on his promise to curb unemployment. Amidst a refugee crisis and growing discontent with the EU, Islamic terror attacks have exacerbated anti-Islam sentiments and the public demand for law and order, giving the FN a substantial lift at a quarter of the vote in the 2014 European and 2015 regional ballots. 

Click here for the full article.

Related story: France's Fillon Fights On: "I Won't Give Up"

Source: euronews.

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