This was a staggering, historic high for the anti-European, anti-immigration party that during the campaign was slammed by political opponents as racist, xenophobic, antisemitic and anti-Muslim despite Le Pen’s public relations efforts to detoxify its image in recent years. [...]
Political scientists have warned that no one should write off the French far right after Marine Le Pen’s presidential loss. The Front National has slowly been gaining ground for the last 45 years and its steady electoral increases must be seen in the long term. The issues that the party has sought to focus on and capitalise from – the terrorist threat, the refugee crisis, immigration, mass unemployment, deindustrialisation, voters who struggle to make ends meet – are unlikely to instantly disappear. [...]
Nevertheless, inside the Front National, there will be internal party recriminations over how Le Pen ran her campaign. The controversial central manifesto pledge to leave the euro was seen as having dissuaded much-needed voters from coming over from the right. It was the source of wavering and bickering inside the party. Le Pen’s TV debate performance was seen as aggressive, erratic and completely at odds with her initial aim to appear “presidential” and reassuring in the campaign. That highly criticised TV performance was also seen to have cost her second-round voters from the mainstream right who might otherwise have given theirsupport.
No comments:
Post a Comment