Skip to main content

Bannon to address Front National as French far-right leaders seek unity



Bannon to address Front National as French far-right leaders seek unity





Beset by political and personal rifts, and with her popularity in the post-election doldrums, Le Pen is facing opposition to her plan to rename the party in an attempt to improve its electoral chances.
presidential election.

Hours before the conference opened it was revealed Donald Trump’s former adviser Steve Bannon would be speaking on the first day of the event.



The move is seen by the traditional wing of the FN, founded by Le Pen’s father in the 1970s, as a betrayal of the party’s heritage. The new name will be voted on after it is unveiled on Sunday.
The surprise guest speaker Bannon was announced on Twitter by the FN deputy president Louis Aliot. He wrote: “Welcome to Steve Bannon who will address the FN tomorrow at our congress and will meet ML [Le Pen]. The people are waking up and taking their destiny in hand.”
Shortly afterwards Aliot tweeted a photograph of him shaking with Bannon, who he wrote “represents rejection of the establishment of which one of the worst symbols is the EU in Brussels. He has understood like Trump and Matteo Salvini [the head of the Italian League] the wish of the people to control their own destiny.” 




Ten months ago, the party was on a high after Le Pen saw off the Socialist candidate to take the FN into the second round of the presidential election with unprecedented support, though not enough to defeat Macron. However, this weekend’s conference to transform and “refound” the party is threatening to fall short of its goals of unity and optimism.
Bruno Cautrès, of the centre for political research at Sciences Po, said the party was undergoing a “crisis of Marine Le Pen’s leadership”. 
“Voters and even party members are questioning her ability, or not, to continue the feeling that the adventure continues and the party can still go forward,” Cautrès told 20 Minutes.
A recent opinion poll by Kantar Sofres confirmed the diagnosis: 55% of respondents said they did not wish Le Pen to be the FN candidate at the next presidential election, and less than one in five believed she inspired confidence. 
At the conference in Lille, in the FN’s northern heartlands, Le Pen will urge the party to move away from the mindset of being a permanent opposition, ground it has occupied since it was founded, to broadening its appeal with a view to governing.
Since taking over the party in 2011 with her father’s blessing, Le Pen has embarked on a process of “de-demonising” the FN, which has involved shrugging off its xenophobic, antisemitic, bully-boy image.
In the presidential election, it appeared this strategy had paid off, as Le Pen gained more than 10m votes (33.9%) in the final round, despite her bizarre and catastrophic performance in a debate with Macron, which cost her support.
However, a questionnaire sent to party members found immigration remains the biggest preoccupation of FN supporters.







The responses to the pre-conference survey, to be revealed on Saturday, are likely to echo warnings from Florian Philippot, Le Pen’s closest aide and strategist until he quit the FN last year, that it risked an “absolutely terrifying” return to its dark past, which he claimed was alienating voters.
While Le Pen is facing no immediate threat of overthrow – she is expected to be re-elected unopposed as party president – her father, Jean-Marie, who was thrown out of the FN for racist remarks, continues to snipe from the sidelines. 



Last month, a court of appeal confirmed his exclusion as honorary president of the FN, a position the conference is expected to vote to drop.
Le Pen’s young and ambitious niece Marion Maréchal-Le Pen, who claims to have withdrawn temporarily from politics, is also biding her time.
The FN leader told Europe 1 radio that party members had been asked 80 questions on major policy issues, including Europe, immigration, employment and the environment. “There may be surprises for some when they read the answers,” she said. 
Party members supported legalised euthanasia, which Le Pen opposes, and responded in favour of gay marriage and against the death penalty, she said.
“The questionnaire shows we need to be more nuanced on certain subjects,” Le Pen said. “It validates the party line of neither right nor left.” 
Le Pen told French TV on Friday evening that the proposed name change was needed to show the FN had grown up and become “adult”.
“Right or left doesn’t mean anything and doesn’t reflect the real division in France today which is between those who feel the nation is an obstacle and those who feel the nation is a jewel to be defended,” she said. Le Pen said the FN had two central aims: “to defend the identity, culture and security of the French involving the fight against immigration” and defending “France’s social model and sovereignty”.

Comments

TRENDING

Stormy Daniels seeks Trump testimony on her sex claims

How to prepare Seared Steak

How to prepare Chicken Shawarma Deluxe

How Generative AI is Transforming Healthcare

Empire Market Vendor from Texas Charged in a Multi-million Dollar Darknet Drug Distribution Conspiracy

Cakes you should taste before the end of the year

D.C. Police: Man in custody after firing shots on Cuban Embassy with assault-style rifle

Popular posts from this blog

Stormy Daniels seeks Trump testimony on her sex claims

New post Stormy Daniels seeks Trump testimony on her sex claims 25 minutes ago Share this with Facebook   Share this with Twitter   Share Media caption Stormy Daniels: 'I was threatened' Adult-film star Stormy Daniels has filed a court motion for US President Donald Trump to testify about her claim that they had a relationship. Her lawyer wants sworn testimony from Mr Trump about a "hush" agreement the actress says she signed. The attorney, Michael Avenatti, is also seeking a legal interview with the president's lawyer. Ms Daniels alleges she had unprotected sex with Mr Trump in 2006 a year after he married Melania Trump. He denies it. Mr Avenatti's motion, filed in a court in the Central District of California early on Wednesday, ramps up the legal duel between the porn star and the president. Should Trump be worried about Stormy Daniels? The president and the porn star: Why this matters Ex-model ...

How to prepare Seared Steak

  Reverse-Seared Steak Time 45 to 55 minutes, plus lighting the grill Reverse-searing is a grilling technique for steak that ensures a dark, sizzling crust and a rosy center that is perfectly cooked to your desired degree of doneness. This brilliant grilling method combines the low and slow cooking of traditional barbecue with the high heat charring practiced at steakhouses. Though it works well with any thick steak, from picanha to porterhouse, this recipe calls for a cut of steak popularized in Santa Maria, Calif., and is today known and loved across the U.S. as tri-tip. As the name suggests, it’s a triangular or boomerang-shaped steak cut from the tip of the sirloin, blessed with a robust beefy flavor. INGREDIENTS Yield : 4 servings * 1large or 2 small wood chunks (such as oak, hickory or mesquite) or 1½ cups wood chips * Canola oil, for greasing the grill grate * 1tri-tip steak (about 2 to 2¼ pounds; see Tip) * Coarse kosher or sea salt * Freshly ground black pep...

How to prepare Chicken Shawarma Deluxe

  Oven-Roasted Chicken Shawarma Here is a formula for a oven-baked roasted rendition of the classic road side flavor bomb normally cooked on a rotisserie. It is ideal for an evening with loved ones. Present with pita and tahini, cleaved cucumbers and tomatoes, a few olives, hacked parsley, some feta, seared eggplant, hummus twirled with harissa, rice or rice pilaf. You can make the white sauce that customarily joins it by cutting plain yogurt with mayonnaise and lemon squeeze, and flecking it with garlic. For a red to counterbalance it, stew ketchup with red pepper pieces and a hit of red-wine vinegar until it goes sweet and thick, or simply utilize your number one hot sauce all things being equal. INGREDIENTS   2 lemons, juiced ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil 6 cloves garlic, peeled, smashed and minced 1 teaspoon kosher salt 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper 2 teaspoons ground cumin 2 teaspoons paprika ½ teaspoon turmeric  A pinch ground cinnamon  Red pepper...