Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the xenophobic Front National party, has placed second in the the first round of the French presidential election. This was a stunning blow to Socialists and a triumphal moment for the right-wing extremist who campaigned on an anti-immigration and anti-European Union platform. Though Le Pen’s speech on Sunday called for voters of all races and religions to rally behind him, his past statements on the status of “foreigners” in France dispels the notion that he might get their support.
Le Pen’s political career has been marred for his notoriously controversial statements and positions. He has called the Holocaust a “minor detail” of World War II history. He advocates virtual apartheid within France, calling for a separate health care system to serve French citizens and priority status for French citizens for jobs. The gratuitously jowled Le Pen has advocated controversial proposals to solve France’s perennial unemployment problem and the recent wave of violent crime that has stunned the nation. His bombastic rhetoric has emphasized an immediate expulsion of all illegal aliens, followed by a gradual resettlement of any remaining immigrants to their places of origin. No candidate with such reactionary and bigoted views should be taken seriously by EU voters, especially in light of France’s complicity with Nazi Germany under the Vichy regime.
This political upset comes at a time when a wave of extreme to moderate right-wing governments have risen to power in several European nations. As such, May 5 will be a decisive date for French voters. They will have to choose between the Gaullist Chirac and the right-wing extremist Le Pen, who is little more than a racist, anti-Semitic demagogue. Though France’s presidential candidates are far from ideal and the choice for voters is severely limited, EU leaders should take note of this renewal in extremist voting patterns and make a concerted effort in fighting this new, disturbing trend in continental politics.
After Sunday’s upset, the French strive to understand the causes of this outcome. Many point to the low voter turnout?though high by American standards?of 72 percent. Others point to violent crime and unemployment. Still others speak of a protest vote by an electorate that sees the Parisian political elite as unresponsive and out of touch with their needs. Also, a total of 16 presidential candidates?largely on the left wing of the political spectrum?splintered the leftist vote, and Le Pen surged ahead of the Socialist Jospin by a paltry .77 percent, carrying 16.91 percent of the vote. What this vote clearly demonstrated is that opposition to immigration and the EU can no longer be taken lightly by political elites; they are a force to be reckoned with as Le Pen’s case proves and they should take note of this populist threat to the stability of EU governments.
We trust that voters will turn out in droves to assure Chirac’s election. Regrettably it will be essential that they vote for Chirac, if not for a return to a less volatile political climate, then for a restoration of France’s self-perceived role as a leader in human rights and republican ideals. French voters must not allow Le Pen to achieve an iota of the electorate’s vote. What is left to ascertain is not whether Le Pen will win the election?he cannot?but whether the amount of support he will receive gauges the full extent of France’s volatile political status.
