Posted on 12/14/2015 4:17:24 PM PST by markomalley
The French National Front (FN) failed to gain control of any regions in the second election round Sunday, but managed to stir up to the political climate in France by kicking socialists out of power in seven regions.
The right-wing, anti-immigration party celebrated victories in six regions during the first round last weekend. When the polls closed Sunday night for the second round, it became clear it failed to take any of the districts.
The outcome was fairly expected and is a result of tactical voting that usually takes place in the second round. Elections go to a second round unless a party manages to gain a majority of the votes. Parties and coalitions with at least 10 percent of the votes can enter the second round, which made a three-way race between the Socialist Party, Republicans and FN in most of the regions.
The Socialists realized FN’s numbers in the first round would likely win it the election in the regions where it received above 40 percent of the votes. For this reason, the socialist candidates decided to drop out and urged supporters to vote Republican.
FN leader Marine Le Pen called the strategy “intellectual terrorism,” but was pleased FN managed to pull off a “total eradication” of socialism in France.
The Socialists only held five of the 12 regions they won in the last election in 2010.
Le Pen is still optimistic about FN’s gains, making it the leading opposition in several regions.
“Nothing can stop us now,” she says. “By tripling our numbers of councillors, we will be the main opposition force in most of the regions of France.”
Experts say this will give Le Pen and FN a “huge springboard” going into the 2017 presidential elections.
Socialist Prime Minister Manuel Valls is on the same page and warned FN will only continue to grow.
“Tonight, no sigh of relief, no sign of triumphalism,” he says. “The danger of the far-right is still around.”
Uh...if a party is not in favor of socialism then it is NOT “far-right.”
“we’re all Socialist now”!
did they bounce the socialist president, clone to DUMBO?
What this shows me is that France is governed by a progressive- left uni-party even more than the USA is. It’s two similar sides simply fighting over the political spoils
Given that the socialists would so easily sacrifice themselves to keep the outsiders on the outside proves this
Freaking scientifically illiterate morons have no conception of the scale of forces involved wrt the Earth’s movements in space.
Just plain stupid.
Oops wrong thread.
“Uh...if a party is not in favor of socialism then it is NOT ‘far-right.’
The National Front has been all over the map on economic policy, over the course of its history. They started out closer to a Nazi position, before Jean Marie Le Pen took over, and moved the party toward more free market policies. They have continued to change over time, but the European right is not the same as the American right.
From Wikipedia:
“Marine Le Pen has been more clear in her support for protectionism, while she has criticised globalism and capitalism for certain industries. She has been characterised as a proponent of letting the government take care of health, education, transportation, banking and energy.”
They are also Euroskeptics, opposed to tighter European integration or loss of national sovereignty.
Like the French .... can’t get anything right on the first try!
socialism is entrenched in France
it is not eradicated yet
Ping!
The socialists were big losers , along with the FN on Sunday.
The socialists lost Paris Ile de France, the richest, most populated region of France, previously held by the socialists (PS) for the last 17 years.
The National Front (FN) controls no regions
Les Republicains (LR) controls 7
The PS controls 5
Corsica was won by the Independentistes, a separatist party.
I dont understand why leftists refer to the FN as an extreme right wing party. With their economic policies, IMO they are on the left.
Here is an interesting, albeit leftist analysis of the French elections.
http://prospect.org/article/ouf-france-dodges-political-bullet Let me know what you think. I can’t understand why all leftists refer to the FN as an extreme right wing party. With their economic policies, IMO they are on the left.
http://prospect.org/article/ouf-france-dodges-political-bullet
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