Extreme Make-Over

The French extreme right wing party called Front National (FN) is doing great in France according to the IFOP (Institut français d'opinion publique). This survey informed that Marine Le Pen could receive 36% of the workers' vote for the presidential elections in 2012 (CR, 2011). Since Marine Le Pen assumed leadership of the FN on January 2011, there has been some changes within the party with the purpose of gaining more popular votes.

Marine Le Pen is trying to clean the image of the FN by erasing any trace that relates the party with his extremist past. A clear example of this makeover is when Marine Le Pen decided to exclude the regional counselor of Rhône-Alpes, Alexander Gabriac, who appeared in a photo mimicking the Nazi salute (FTV & AFP, 2011). This decision taken by the party is changing the way people think about the right wing. Due to this and the social crisis in Europe caused by the debate on immigrations laws the extreme right combined with the “broken social promises” (CR, 2011) of the actual government, has allowed the extreme right to gain supporters.

This is a great opportunity for the FN to gain importance and power, and Marine Le Pen knows it. Another characteristic of this perfect scenario for the extreme right is that the other parties are having troubles of leadership and public support. As pointed before it is estimated that Marine Le Pen could received 36% of worker votes while for the UMP it is not completely clear who is going to be the official candidate. As Bernard Debre explained “if Sarkozy is under 15% of vote intention, he won’t go” (SAN, 2011). If this circumstances continue the FN could have a good chance in the presidential elections next year, and this would be the first time an extreme right party does it alone, without coalition.

Bibliography

CR. (2011, 04 24). Nouveau sondage favorable à Marine Le Pen. Retrieved 05 01, 2011, from http://info.france2.fr/politique/nouveau-sondage-favorable-a-marine-le-pen-68520480.html

FTV, & AFP. (2011, 04 21). Marine Le Pen tente de lisser l'image du FN. Retrieved 05 01, 2011, from http://info.france2.fr/politique/marine-le-pen-tente-de-lisser-l-image-du-fn-68471414.html

SAN, L. (2011, 04 21). Des primaires à droite ? Et pourquoi pas... Retrieved 05 01, 2011, from http://info.france2.fr/politique/des-primaires-a-droite--et-pourquoi-pas-68492495.html