The French National Front is history. On Sunday afternoon, party leader Marine Le Pen proposed at a congress in Lille, France, to operate under rally national, i.e. "National Alliance" or "National association". The new name should remove "psychological caveats" against party. In coming weeks, members will vote on new party logo.
In a member survey over past few months, however, only 52 percent have expressed a real change in name. The scarce result is a symptom of how undivided and aimless French right-wing extremists are today after ir election defeat last year. During her two-hour speech, Le Pen could not make clear what solutions party wants to offer. To get out of euro has long been one of main objectives of Front National; Now Le Pen does not seem to be able to decide wher or not to re-introduce old French franc. In Lille, she said only vaguely that this decision would be taken in accordance with French.
Nor did she explain wher she would like to continue or withdraw from last demanded state-sustaining social policy, including higher minimum wages and nationalized companies. Originally, under her far and party founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, Front National called for decades of liberal economic laws – war veteran wanted to free companies from all sorts of conditions and let m manage as y wanted.
Steve Bannons appearance also controversial in Front NationalToger with her deputy Florian Philippot, Le Pen n proposed an employee-oriented course since her appointment in 2011. After election defeat in 2017, Philippot stepped down, founded his own party, and also seems to have taken economic direction: at Congress, ultra-liberal and US President Trump, U.S.-based advisor Steve Bannon, spoke.
Bannon has no more political power, but called on followers of National Front to believe that populists would only have victories. His appearance was also controversial in party, after all he is more of a person of past than of departure. MEP Gilbert Collard said that Bannon only deliver ammunition for critics and stand up to "normalization" of party that all wanted to achieve.
Apparently, Le Pen could not win any of European right-wing extremists for ir Congress. While ir Italian friends of Lega in Italy and FPOe in Austria celebrate successes, party heiress has been unlucky for more than a year. At that time, in January 2017, it seemed as if Le Pen could even become president of France. But she failed in election campaign, tangled in interviews, and was completely defeated in decisive TV duel against Emmanuel Macron; Confused company names, could not decide wher to get out of euro or not and insulted Macron so upset and aggressive that many Frenchmen were probably afraid to leave her power in country.
Since n, loser's image sticks to her, even though she ended up convincing more than a third of Frenchwomen and French, bringing more voices to front than ever before in a nationwide election. Le pens popularity decreases from month to month. The majority of French still find 49-year-old unsympatic and unsuitable to rule. Her own regular voters and party members keep her loyal: On Sunday morning she was reelected almost unanimously as party leader. But a great many of your critics have been out in past months. In sourn France, some cities have lost even half of ir activists.
Date Of Update: 12 March 2018, 12:02
