Marine Le Pen
Encyclopedia
Marine Le Pen is a French politician, a lawyer by profession and the president of the Front National (FN) since 16 January 2011. She is the youngest daughter of the French politician Jean-Marie Le Pen
, former president of the FN and currently its honorary chairman.
She joined the FN in 1986, its Executive Committee in 2000 and was a vice-president of the FN for eight years (2003–2011). She currently is an ex-officio member of the FN Executive Office, Executive Committee and Central Committee.
She has been a regional councillor since 1998 (Île-de-France
: 2004–2010, Nord-Pas-de-Calais: 1998–2004, 2010–present), a Member of the European Parliament
since 2004 (Île-de-France
: 2004–2009, North-West France
: 2009–present) and was a municipal councillor in Hénin-Beaumont
, Pas-de-Calais for three years (2008–2011).
In 2010, she was a candidate for the leadership of the FN set up by Jean-Marie Le Pen on 5 October 1972. She successfully succeeded him during the FN congress in Tours
, Indre-et-Loire. On 16 January 2011, she was elected with 67.65% (11,546 votes) as the second president of the Front National.
She is currently running for the 2012 French presidential election
.
, who founded the Front National when Marine was four years old.
The three sisters were teased at school that "papa" was a "fascist". In 1976, Marine survived a bomb attack on the family as they slept in their beds. She was eight when a bomb meant for her father exploded in the stairwell outside the family's apartment. The blast ripped a hole into the outside wall of the building. Marine, her two older sisters and their parents were unharmed.
She was a student at the lycée Florent Schmitt at Saint-Cloud
. Later, her parents publicly divorced in 1987.
in 1991 and a Master of Advanced Studies (DEA) of criminal law
in 1992. Registered at the Paris bar association
, she worked as a lawyer for six years (1992–1998). Part of her legal work involved representing illegal immigrants. In France, when a defendant cannot afford a lawyer one is chosen to represent him or her. She often fulfilled this role.
In 2000, she joined the FN Executive Committee (bureau politique). In 2003, she became vice-president of the FN. In 2006, Jean-Marie Le Pen entrusted her with the management of his 2007 presidential campaign
. In 2007, she became one of the two executive vice-presidents of the FN and was in charge of training, communication and publicity.
In 1998, she acquired her first political mandate when she was elected regional councillor in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais. From 2002, she began to establish her parliamentary base in the former coal mining area of the Pas-de-Calais.
Her aim is to expand the political influence of the FN and transform it into a "big popular party that addresses itself not only to the electorate on the right but to all the French people". She has frequently stated that she rules out any political alliance with the Union for a Popular Movement
.
She has at numerous times distanced herself from some of Jean-Marie Le Pen's controversial statements, notably those relating to war-crimes. The media point to her attempts to improve the party's image.
On 5 May 2002, after the run-off of the 2002 presidential election
, she took part in a televised debate on France 3
. Political analysts compared her appearance to a "media baptism" and claim that her political emergence has its roots in this debate.
During the Mots croisés programme on France 2
on 5 October 2009, she quoted sections of Frédéric Mitterrand
's autobiographical novel The Bad Life
, accusing him of having sex with underage boys and engaging in "sex tourism
", demanding his resignation as a Minister of Culture
. According to the French political commentator Jérôme Fourquet, she has broken through during the Mitterrand case and then has gained the media ascendancy over the party.
Hosted on France 2 by the journalist and commentator Arlette Chabot
, À vous de juger was one of the most leading political programmes. For her first appearance as a contradictory guest on 14 January 2010, she opposed Éric Besson
, then Minister of Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Mutually-Supportive Development. For her first appearance as a main guest on 9 December 2010, she was successively questioned on economic, societal and immigration matters by Arlette Chabot and the political commentator Alain Duhamel
, then debated with the socialist mayor of Évry Manuel Valls
and endly was put against Rachida Dati
, former Minister of Justice. Her appearance attracted 3,356,000 viewers (14.6% of the televised audience), which represented the highest viewing figures for 2010 and the fourth best since the start of the series in September 2005.
In December 2010, the French journalist Guillaume Tabard described her as the "revelation of the year". He further described her as "first an electoral phenomenon" and "a media phenomenon after".
Hosted on France 2 by the journalist and anchorman David Pujadas
, Des paroles et des actes (Words and acts) replaced À vous de juger. For her first appearance as a main guest on 23 June 2011, she opposed Cécile Duflot
, national secretary of the Greens
. Her appearance attracted 3,582,000 viewers which represented 15.1% of the televised audience.
Hosted on TF1
by the anchorwoman Laurence Ferrari
and the political commentator François Bachy
, Parole directe (Direct speech) is one of the most leading political programmes. For her first appearance as a unique guest on 15 September 2011, she attracted an average of 6 millions of viewers (23.3% of the televised audience) with a peak of 7,3 millions in the second half of the programme.
At an international level, she was invited by the Québec web-radio Rockik in December 2008, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
(Radio Canada) in May 2010 and the Israeli radio 90FM in March 2011. In March 2011, she appeared on the front cover page of The Weekly Standard
magazine with the title "The Future of the European Right ?".
On 4 April 2011, she appeared in the 2011 Time 100 Poll. On 21 April 2011, she appeared for the first time in the 71st position in the 2011 Time 100
ahead of the Vice President of the People's Republic of China
Xi Jinping
(83rd position), the President of the United States Barack Obama
(86th position) and the Prime Minister of Israel
Benjamin Netanyahu
(95th position). A Vice Chairman of the State Duma
and leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia
, Vladimir Zhirinovsky
wrote a commentary about her political destiny.
She spent four months campaigning for the FN leadership, holding meetings with FN members in 51 departments to explain in detail her political views and projects for the party. All the other departments were visited by one of her official supporters.
On 3 September 2010, she launched her internal campaign at Cuers
, Var. During a meeting in Paris on 14 November 2010, she claimed: "My project is not to assemble our political family, or rather is not only to assemble our political family. It consists of shaping the Front National as the center of grouping of the whole French people". She also explained why the FN leadership and the candidature for the presidential election must not be dissociated: thus the next FN leader will run in the 2012 presidential election. During her final meeting at Hénin-Beaumont on 19 December 2010, she claimed that the FN presents the real debates of the next presidential campaign. Most of her campaign tours throughout France were reported in local newspapers and regional television programmes.
In December 2010 and early January 2011, FN members voted by post to elect their new president and the hundred members of the Central Committee. The party held its congress at Tours for two days (15–16 January 2011). On 16 January 2011, Marine Le Pen was officially elected with 67.65% (11,546 votes) as the new president of the Front National and Jean-Marie Le Pen became de facto its honorary chairman. Her challenger Bruno Gollnisch
polled 32.35% (5,522 votes).
on 10 December 2010, she said that the weekly illegal blocking of public streets and squares throughout France (notably the rue Myrha in the 18th arrondissement of Paris) for Muslim prayers is comparable with an occupation of parts of French territory. The fact that she had mentioned World War II brought claims from the media and politicians that she had drawn a controversial parallel with the German occupation of France (May 1940 – December 1944).
The whole political and media class strongly criticized her statement, which was widely commented on by different political analysts. Whereas the CRIF
, the French Council of Muslim Faith (CFCM) and the LICRA denounced her statement, other groups like the MRAP and the LDH
declared their intention of lodging a formal complaint. The imam
of the Great Mosque of Paris and former president of the CFCM, Dalil Boubakeur, claimed that though her parallel was questionable and condemnable, she had asked a valid question.
A member of the FN's Executive Committee, Louis Aliot
, denounced "the attempted manipulation of opinion by communitarian groups and those really responsible for the current situation in France". On 13 December 2010, she confirmed her statement during a press conference held in the FN's headquarters in Nanterre
. After Jean-François Kahn
's comments on BFM TV on 13 December 2010, she denounced "state manipulation" mounted from the Elysée
with the intention of demonizing her in public opinion.
During her opening speech in Tours on 16 January 2011, she advocated to "restore the political framework of the national community" and to implement the direct democracy
which enables the "civic responsibility and the collective tie" thanks to the participation of public-spirited citizens for the decisions. The predominant political theme was the uncompromising defence of a protective and efficient State
, which favours secularism
, prosperity and liberties. She also denounced the "Europe of Bruxelles" which "everywhere imposed the destructive principles of ultra-liberalism and Free trade
, at the expense of public utilities, employment, social equity and even our economic growth which became within twenty years the weakest of the world.
After the traditional Joan of Arc
and Labor Day march in Paris on 1 May 2011, she gave her first speech in front of 3.000 supporters.
On 28 July 2011, she reacted after the publication of the IMF
yearly report on France. In a letter addressed to the managing director of IMF Christine Lagarde
, she explained in detail the "four pillars to get out France of the debt and straighten out our public accounts". On 11 August 2011, she held an exceptional press conference about the current systemic crisis. During her press conference organized on 6 September 2011 at the Pont de la Concorde
in front of the National Assembly, she vigorously denounced the favourable voting by Socialist and UMP-NC
MPs of second Greek bailout plan.
On 10 and 11 September 2011, she made her political comeback with the title "the voice of people, the spirit of France" in the convention center
of Acropolis
in Nice. During her closing speech on 11 September 2011, she tackled the audience about immigration, insecurity, the economic and social situation, reindustrialization and 'strong state'.
She regularly holds thematic press conferences and interventions on varied issues in French, European and international politics.
Opposed to free trade
and autarky
, she advocates protectionism
as a median way. In her view, if one considers the economy to be a raging river, then free trade is like allowing the torrent to rush along unchecked; autarky equates to the erection of a dam whereas protectionism is to install a sluice gate. "Protectionism is not autarky ! ... Our position is not extreme – as our opponents would have it believed – but one which favours the middle way".
In 2010, she vigorously criticized the pension plan drawn up by Nicolas Sarkozy
and his liberal-conservative government.
She paid tribute to the economist Maurice Allais
, who died on 9 October 2010. The sole French laureate of the Nobel Prize in Economics
(1988), Allais had expressed concerns about the 1992 Maastricht Treaty
, the single European currency, free trade and Globalization
and the 2004 European Constitution
.
She favours the repeal of the 1973 Pompidou-Giscard Law, which makes it illegal for France to borrow at zero or a low rate of interest from the Banque de France
and forces the country to borrow at higher rate on the international financial markets. In her view, the national debt has grown steeply because of this law. She claimed that in 2010 France had already refunded 1.355 trillion euros of accrued interest on loans at a time when the national debt represented around 1.650 trillion euros.
She claims to be attached to the French public utilities, the civil servants
and the general interest. She thus opposes the programmed privatization
of the French Post Office
(La Poste) : in her view, "the privatization, with the aim of only making profitable, will result in the removal of post offices in the rural areas where the relinquishment of the state is already high". In October 2009, she claimed that three post offices had already disappeared each day in France since 1 January 2009. She reminded that the liberalization
of the French public utilities had been ratified by the former Prime Minister Lionel Jospin
during the Barcelona summit on 15 and 16 March 2002. She had also warned that the UMP government planned a "progressive privatization of the French Social Security
system from 2011" – a condition imposed by the financial markets.
During a press conference in June 2011, she advocated to reintroduce the Havana Charter
and implement an "International Trade Organization" (in place of World Trade Organization
), in order to reorganize the world trade exchanges. Signed by 53 countries and rejected by US in 1951, this Charter was a trade agreement that would have established an international currency known as the Bancor
. She claimed that the "Havana Charters's proposals perfectly fit into her economic philosophy" and that "its first article conciliates international trade and employment".
During her speech at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
in November 2011, she proposed "three essential solutions to stop the current world systemic crisis and turn the world towards a greater justice and greater prosperity": reintroduction of a "polymetallic standard" in the International monetary systems
as a world standard of reference and exchanges in order to establish a "free monetary system" and struggle against speculation; the ratification of the modernized Havana Charter by the 1948 signatory nations and incoming emerging countries, in order to favour a "reasonable protectionism that encourages cooperation in trade among nations through the end of 'unbridled free trade'"; application of the 1933 Glass–Steagall Act, which legally separated investment banking and commercial banking, to “the banking system of each country”. In her view, these solutions will be able to support globally employment thanks to the integration of "full employment" appearing as one of the main targets of the Havana Charter and industry thanks to the authorization of state aids appearing in the Charter's article 13.
In October 2011, she advocated to implement a drastic regulation of the banking sector separating by the law the deposit banks
from the merchant bank
s. She claimed that "the deposit banks should be rescued by a temporary and partial nationalization
". In her view, "the balance sheet
of the banks should be the object of a transparency operation".
In October 2011, she pledged to "cut immediately seven expenses as harmful as expensive" in order to preserve in the short term France's AAA credit rating
and save €30 billion a year.
A president of the Mouvement des Entreprises de France
(MEDEF), Laurence Parisot
regularly levels strong criticism at the FN's economic and social programme. She replied that "the FN is not the friend of the CAC 40 and is fighting the social regression brought about by the MEDEF and inflicted on the French people by the allies of the UMP and the PS". After Parisot's new criticism, she claims that "the philosophy of the FN's economic project comes down to some words: construction of a strong, protective and strategist state, reasoned protections at the boundaries, support to the small and medium enterprises, and get back the monetary sovereignty, only able to assure France's recovery". She also replied that "Laurence Parisot, this is the exact opposite of her democratic and republican project, a project of hope which puts back man and nation in the center of politics". After the publication of Parisot's critical book relating to the FN economic project, she suggested a "direct and public debate" with the president of the MEDEF.
(CAP) after 2013 will be unable to protect our farmers from speculators and savage global competition, or to compensate for the excesses of the multinationals of the food processing industry and large-scale distributors. The CAP after 2013 will remain wedged between the ultraliberal and internationalist market logic of the European Commission and a future ‘green’ CAP, in reality serving the neo-capitalists of ecological business".
During her first visit at the Paris International Agricultural Show
on 25 February 2011, Marine Le Pen denounced the CAP as an "unbearable bureaucracy" and advocated to substitute it for a "French agricultural policy". She also claimed that "leaving the EU, we could allocate 15 billions of euro to our agriculture".
She claims that 'internationalist organisations' such as EU, FAO
, United Nations and G-20
are directly responsible for the food crises throughout the world. She advocates France's food independence with regard to multinationals and "a realignment of the farm aid politics to the third countries in order to favour their food sovereignty in particular by the reintroduction of localized food crops".
She advocates to implement the "autarky of big spaces" and an "economy in concentric circles". In her view, it is an "ecological heresy to consume products grown at 20,000 km away and recycle waste thousands km further". She claims that we should "produce to the closest", "distribute on the spot", "consume as a priority products of its region" and then "in the nearby region" if not produced on the spot. She seeks to implement "contracts of cooperation" if necessary goods like coffee are not produced in Europe.
She advocates an immediate reduction of 20% of the domestic tax on oil products (TIPP), a surchage of fantastic profits of the largest gas and oil companies and a struggle against international speculation
on basic products such as food and energy. She considers that "a strong state has authority to be the guarantor of public utilities, being the exclusive owner of the strategic companies of public utility and the regulator of tariffs".
After a fatal event occurred on 12 September 2011 in the Centraco
nuclear installation located on the Marcoule Nuclear Site, she claimed that "this accident illustrated the dangerousness of this energy and the necessity to consider a progressive and well-thought-out exit from nuclear power
". In her view, "the State must secure the 58 French nuclear power plants
and invest in researches to process nuclear waste
". She advocates to "start the energy diversification of France, in particular with an ambitious programme of research into hydrogen
".
She favours accompanied combined transport
(ferroutage) and public transport.
as "a crying injustice". She claims that the main groups of CAC 40 only pay 8% of corporate tax whereas the small offices/home offices
, the small and medium entreprises, the craftsmen
and the shopkeeper
s fully pay 33.33%. She advocates to implement a flexible corporate tax according to the use of profits
: heavier when the profits benefit the shareholder
s and lighter when the profits turn towards profit sharing
, salaries
, employment and productive investment, enabling a relocation of activities.
MEP, she holds globalization, intergovernmental organizations, 'euro-mondialism', free trade and ultra-liberalism responsible for the decline of agriculture and the fishing industry
, deindustrialization, offshoring
and structural unemployment
. Advocating a 'Europe of the nations' like a loose confederation of sovereign nation states, she opposes supranationalism, the euro and the eurozone
, the technocracy of Brussels, and the EU's federalism.
She opposes the establishment of a direct European tax, which is favoured by the leaders of the European Parliament
and European Commission
. She claims that an indirect European tax already exists, since France is a net annual contributor to the EU budget by up to 7 billion euros annually.
Opposed to the accession of Turkey to the European Union
, she prefers the option of a "privileged partnership".
is the 'gravedigger of the independence and identity of the European nations' and the 'executioner of public utilities in the name of a cult of profitability and free competition
– both mortal enemies of public interest
'. In her view, the Treaty of Lisbon is an 'exact copy' of the European Constitution which was rejected after two referenda: the first by 54.67% of the French citizens on 29 May 2005
and then by 61.54% of the Dutch citizens on 1 June 2005
. She thus regrets that the Treaty of Lisbon was imposed on the French people by parliament in order to avoid another referendum. She also denounces its approval by the Socialist Party
.
She denounces the Treaty's amending implemented by the EU leaders, notably Germany. In her view, the revision is aimed at "solving the euro" and "forever eliminating the budgetary sovereignty of the states to institute a kind of supranational European monetary fund".
She claims that the implementation of the Euro entailed a rise in price
s and its abandonment would lead to an increase in purchasing power. Quoting economic data from Eurostat
(annual average growth, unemployment, GDP gap), she notes that "the European countries which did not enter the euro display higher performances than countries in the eurozone for ten years". Interviewed in October 2011 by Adam Boulton
on Sky News
, she cited the UK's relative stability as an example of how France's economy need not suffer from pulling out of the euro. She noticed that "United Kingdom is not in the eurozone and does not have the least desire to be in it. UK does not tolerate this kind of taking away of its freedom".
In order to recover monetary sovereignty, she advocates that France should gradually leave the euro with a new conversion rate fixed to 1 euro = 1 franc
. In her view, France should jointly negotiate a "grouped departure" from the euro and eurozone. This departure should take effect on the same day and include the other European countries (such as Ireland, Greece, Italy
, Spain, Portugal
, Belgium) which are suffering because of the single currency. Since the present government and the whole political class had strongly criticized her economic plan, she submitted a new document detailing how a successful departure of United Kingdom, Spain and Italy from the European Monetary System
(EMS) had been achieved from September 1992.
She explains the tenet and the mechanism of a competitive devaluation
(J curve
), which "will quickly have a positive effect on employment and purchasing power, stimulating industry, international trade
and enabling to fight offshorings". Quoting extracts from a book by the French economist Alain Cotta, she claims that a devaluation of the franc will not bring about inflation.
She anticipates a "total economic federalization of the eurozone". In her view, "this option which is favoured by the European technostructure, presents all the features of a totalitarian utopia". She claims that a "monstrous superstructure, already named 'European ministry of Finance', would decide in the opaqueness our policies of education, health and security". In her view, "the federal headlong rush also supposes a massive financial transfer of our countries towards Southern
and Eastern Europe, at the detriment of the most vulnerable French people".
She claims that despite the expansion of the abilities of the European Financial Stability Facility
, reassuring announcements and new austerity plans, Greece is sinking, social devastation is intensifying and the anger of the people bursts out. She laments that "the contributing countries, France in particular, throw in the hole of the European debt billions which dig their deficits and come them closer to the eye of the cyclone". In her view, "the hundred of billions paid do not product any result, will not settle any problem, will not rescue a eurozone already in bankruptcy and push France into the chasm of excessive debt, whereas the French debt has already exploded under the mandate of Nicolas Sarkozy". On July 2011, she claimed that "after the seventeen billions of the first plan, the fifteen billions of the new assistance plan to Greece will make heavy our own already huge debt". Fearing that "France falls into the excessive debt", she refuses "any new assistance plan in order to bail out one after the other the countries suffering because of the single currency".
, she claimed that "she believed in a multipolar world
".
In her view, France has also to revise its geostrategic relations with the USA. She regularly denounces France's bandwagoning
towards the USA. She advocates that France takes its independence towards US and regains the geopolitical independence beloved of Charles de Gaulle
.
In May 2011, she claimed that the "old institutions" such as World Trade Organization
, World Bank
and International Monetary Fund were "expired".
In 2011, she advocated the "replacement of WTO by an 'International World Organization', founded on the sane principles of protection, interest of people and support to small and medium entreprises, the 'humbles' faced with the 'powerful' and cartels".
In her view, IMF which "has become an infernal machine at the service of the ultraliberal ideology, is in its current form an extremely harmful institution". She claims that "the structural adjustment plans that IMF imposes on countries where it operates, systematically result in privatization of public utilities, dismantling of the state, drop in salaries and pensions, and removal of protections at boundaries". In her view, "peoples are always the first victims of IMF like in Argentina in 2001 and today in Greece". She claims that "the in-depth results of IMF are disastrous : rise in debts and sharp increase in rhythm of financial crises
for two decades". She consequently advocates the abolition of IMF.
In July 2011, she wrote an open letter to policemen, gendarmes and customs officers concerning the policy of fight against illegal immigration
. She criticized the "passivity and inactivity of the UMP government faced with the collapse of expulsions of illegal immigrants" as well as its "blind submissiveness to very questionable European injunctions". Denouncing a "sharp fall in deportations since the beginning of 2011 after a decrease of near 5% in 2010", she claimed that "most of the detention centres are almost empty in 2011". Advocating the "return of any foreigner illegally entered to France towards his/her country of origin", she claims that she "refuses to give up the fight against illegal immigration".
She favours a "radical change of politics in order to drastically reduce upstream the influx of illegal immigrants towards France". In her view, this policy requires to "cut the 'suction pumps' of illegal immigration while France is in this field one of the most incentive countries in the world". Implemented in 2000 by Lionel Jospin's government, the aide médicale d'Ėtat (AME) grants free medical care to illegal immigrants. Denouncing a "state scandal" and an "increasing financial black hole for the French social security system", she "pledges to repeal the AME as soon as she will come to power". She claims that, in the wake of selected immigration and then endured immigration, Nicolas Sarkozy is imposing health-care immigration on the French people.
In February 2011, she claimed that in the wake of the Arab Spring
, Europe and particularly France would be confronted with a surge in illegal immigration. She denounced "the EU's tragic helplessness to respond to this new migratory challenge" and "the EU's disability to face with these emergency situations and to control effectively the migratory flows".
Accompanied by the vice-president of the FN Louis Aliot and Mario Borghezio
MEP (Lega Nord), she travelled to Lampedusa
on 14 March 2011. She met the island's mayor Bernardino De Rubeis (Movement for Autonomies) and visited a housing center for illegal immigrants. She said that "Europe can't welcome everyone... We would be pleased to take them all in our boat, but it's not big enough. We'll all go to the bottom. We would be adding one misery to another" and "I also want to offer my support to the inhabitants of Lampedusa who have had the feeling of being completely abandoned". Around 9,000 migrants had already reached Lampedusa by boat since mid-January 2011 when protests in Tunisia
unleashed a revolution across the Arab world
. During an international press conference held in Rome on 15 March 2011, she explained the situation of illegal immigration in Lampedusa, emphasized "the helplessness of EU" and how "each nation is more efficient to deal with the issue", and proposed solutions to settle this issue.
In order to curb the illegal immigration influx from Tunisia
and Libya, she has enjoined Nicolas Sarkozy to announce France's immediate and definitive withdrawal from Schengen Area
and to reinstate urgently customs controls in all the borders of the country. She claimed that the UMP government's deceptive announcements about Schengen issue aimed at concealing its political inactivity and attempting to cheat public opinion. In her view, the announcement of a technical adjustment of Schengen Agreement
proposed by Nicolas Sarkozy and Silvio Berlusconi
during the 26 April 2011 French-Italian summit "will not settle strictly anything". Reminding that United Kingdom and Ireland have refused the Agreement, she claims that only the withdrawal from Schengen Area will enable France to re-establish necessary customs controls and stop immigration. She claims that "traffics and networks of smugglers thrive when a country does not control its borders".
, detailed the welfare benefits to which the legal and illegal immigrants are entitled, endly proposed concrete solutions based on working models in UK and Netherlands
. In July 2011, she claims that "with 203,000 residence permits allocated in 2010 versus 114,000 in 2000 under Lionel Jospin, the UMP power promotes a laxer than ever policy of legal immigration".
On 28 November 2010
, 52.9% of the Swiss voters and 15 5/2 cantons
approved the popular iniative "for the deportation of criminal foreigners" while the governmental counterproposal was rejected by 54.2% of voters and all the 20 6/2 cantons. She praised "the great victory of the Swiss people against the ruling elite". Afterwards, she took part in debates on Radio Suisse Romande
(RSR) with the SVP
national councillor
Oskar Freysinger
and then on Radio Cité Genève.
Interviewed by The Daily Telegraph
, she praised David Cameron
's pledge to cut net annual immigration to UK from around 200,000 to "tens of thousands". In February 2011, David Cameron expressed a rejection of multiculturalism
during a speech at Munich security conference
. Afterwards, she congratulated him, for what she claimed was an endorsement of the FN's views on the failure of multiculturalism and immigration.
is indivisible from nationality and rests on the equality of all people before the law; the latter should preclude preferential treatment based on the membership of a social, ethnic or religious category. As a result, she favours the repeal of affirmative action
and the restoration of the "republican meritocracy
".
She claims that filiation
should be the normal route to French nationality, with naturalization
the exception : "nationality is inherited or merited". In her view, naturalization can only be obtained after a check on the ability of assimilation
to republican principles. In order to settle the immigration issue, she advocates a reform of the nationality regulations so as to remove dual citizenship
and the automatic acquisition of French nationality. On 30 May 2011, she wrote a letter to the Members of Parliament about dual citizenship: she claimed that "in the dual citizenship lie one of the main ferments of breach of the republican cohesion that France needs more than ever and a potent brake on the assimilation of French people from immigration".
She favours an enforcement of the law regarding loss of nationality. In her view, a foreigner who does not respect the law in France should be deprived of French nationality; equally any foreigner committing serious crimes and offences in France should be returned to his or her country of origin.
She favours a 'French first' policy with regard to employment, welfare and accommodation.
) in French society. She vigorously defends the 1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State, stipulating that the French republic does not recognise, grant a salary or subsidise any form of religious worship.
She favours a ban on any communitarian or religious demands in schools, and seeks an amendment to the Constitution
stating that the French republic does not recognize any community (denominations and ethnic groups). Opposed to the financing of mosques from public funds, she further seeks to deny their financing from foreign assets. In her view, the construction, maintenance and financing of places of worship should be a matter for groups of worshippers operating within a regulated framework. She advocates to implement "the separation of the mosque and the state" and opposes the training of Imams by the French republic.
On 29 November 2009
, 57.5% of Swiss voters and 19 ½ cantons approved the popular initiative "for a ban on the construction of new minarets
" (without retroactive effect on the four minarets already built in Switzerland
). She congratulated the Swiss people on the overwhelming approval of the ban and denounced the ruling elite for its contempt of direct democracy
.
In February 2010, the fast food chain Quick
announced that eight of its franchises would offer exclusively halal
meals. This decision immediately triggered a controversy among the French political class from the Socialist Party, the UMP (Lionnel Luca
MP) and the FN. The controversy was particularly sharp in Roubaix
(Nord) : the socialist mayor René Vandierendonck even threatened a lawsuit and she wrote two official statements about the matter. Denouncing an "accelerated policy of Islamisation" and a "breach of the constitutional principle of secularism", she claimed that Quick had been owned by the French state since October 2006 and that the UMP state is the owner of Quick through the Caisse des dépôts et consignations
(Qualium Investissement subsidiary), which holds 99.63% of its capital.
Interviewed by Radio 1
in June 2011, she said that unlike the leader of the PVV
Geert Wilders
, she is “not waging war against Islam” and "is fighting the Islamisation of French society". Emphasizing her divergence with the Dutch MP, she claimed : “That’s the difference between Geert Wilders and me. He reads the Qur’an literally: you can’t interpret the Qur’an – or indeed the Bible – literally. I resist fundamentalists
who want to impose their will and law on France. Sharia Law
is not compatible with our principles, our values or democracy.”
She is strictly opposed to any softening of the law against euthanasia
.
She supports a referendum
on whether to reinstate the capital punishment in France
, which has been abolished in 1981. The electorate would have the choice between restoring the death penalty and introduce a 'real' life imprisonment
(without parole). Currently, French lifers are eligible for parole after serving 18 to 22 years, except in small number of cases.
. Her goal was to become the personification of national ambition and to return to France a spirit of greatness and an awareness of its place in history.
She remains committed to France's territorial sovereignty, including the Overseas departments and territories
. During a debate on Radio Cité Genève with Éric Bertinat, a SVP member of the Grand Council of Geneva
, she vigorously opposed his proposal that the French departments of Ain
and Haute-Savoie
be incorporated into Switzerland.
During her opening speech, she reminded that France is present in the three oceans and possesses the second-largest Exclusive Economic Zone
in the world, covering 11 million km2 During her opening speech, she also emphasized the importance of the French language and Francophonie. She claimed that "our national language is spreading through the five continent
s, privilege that it only shares with English" and that "the Francophonie has to vibrate in the lands of Asia, Americas, Europe and Africa again".
In April 2011, she wrote a letter to all the prefects of France. She denounced "the weakening of the state", "the discouragement of its personnels" and "the ineffectiveness of its governance". She claimed that the history of France shows us that as soon as there is a gap of the state, the local baronies reconstruct. She proposed a politic of re-establishment of the state which will lean on the high-ranking and devoted civil servants.
on becoming an overseas department held on 29 March 2009, 95.22% of the Mahoran voters approved the change of status. An overseas collectivity from 2003, Mayotte
became France's 101 department on 31 March 2011. A third of the population of Mayotte are illegal migrants, mostly from the nearby islands
of the archipelago
which make up the independent Comoran state
. In her view, the accession of Mayotte to an overseas department will create a new in-draught for illegal immigration, which constitutes a threat for the stability of the island. She claims that the departmental status of the island requires the relinquishment of the jus soli
wished in 2005 by François Baroin
, then Minister of Overseas
and the implementation of the 'French first' policy in the granting of welfare aids.
is in France and must stay there". In her view, "the creation of a citizenship and an acknowledgment of a 'Kanak
identity' organize a true dismemberment of the sovereignty and a breach of the unity of the French republic". In June 2010, she claimed that "the official acknowledgment of the flag
of the separatists of FNLKS as emblem of New Caledonia would constitute an affront to France and would show the true will of the UMP government to get rid of this French territory". She stated that "the only flag of New Caledonia, a French territory, is the French flag in accordance with the article 2 of the French constitution". In February 2011, she again claimed that "the controversial solution of the two flags, contrary to the Nouméa Accord
, which was supported by the Prime Minister François Fillon
, is an additional proof of the will of the government and Nicolas Sarkozy to want to get rid of a part of France".
. She claims that a French-Russian partnership is necessited by "obvious civilization and geostrategic factors" as well as France's "energy security interests". In her view, "France's interests are in Europe, but in Great Europe, especially including its partnership with Russia". Interviewed by Kommersant, she claimed that "the process of demonization of Russia is taking place at the level of the EU leadership and at the wishes of the US, which is trying to create a unipolar world." Interviewed about democracy in Russia and Vladimir Putin
, she replied: "We also do not have an ideal democracy in France and, therefore, do not have the right to give Russia lessons in democracy. But I openly admit that, to some extent, I admire Vladimir Putin. He makes mistakes, but who doesn’t? The situation in Russia is complicated, and one cannot expect all the problems stemming from the collapse of the Soviet Union
to be quickly resolved – they require time. I think that Vladimir Putin has principles and a vision of the future that is necessary to ensure Russia’s prosperity, which it deserves.
She claims that the Front National is a "patriotic" party with more in common with the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) and its "opposition to the totalitarian character of the EU and its desire to remove people's sovereignty" than the British National Party
(BNP).
On 8 June 2011, Marine Le Pen and the leader of the Freedom Party of Austria
Heinz-Christian Strache
held in the European Parliament
a joint press conference about "globalization, migration and economic threats in the UE". Both are aiming at strengthening the ties between their two respective movements and also with other eurosceptic parties.
In a statement written on 20 July 2011, she wrote that "If Belgium is going to split, if Flanders
pronounces its independence, which seems more and more credible a possibility, the French republic would do well to welcome Wallonia to its heart." She said that "on this eve of the Belgian National Day
, it is nevertheless the responsibility of France and the French to extend a hand to the Walloons
". She claimed that "the historic and fraternal links that unite our two people are too strong for France to abandon the Walloons". She suggested any such plan to become part of France should be agreed by a referendum in both countries.
In a statement about the 2011 Norway attacks
, she reiterated her condolences to the Norway
people and recalled her determination to fight mercilessly against all forms of violence and barbarity. In reply to a MRAP's statement, she claimed that "the Norwegian slaughter was the work of a lone lunatic who must be ruthlessly punished".
. She claimed that "the revolutions in Maghreb, which have been led in the name of freedom and human rights, turned into a democratic fiasco and the eruption of violent islamist movements". In her view, "these violent attacks illustrate the extreme fragility of the democratic processes in countries faced with the growing influence of radical islamist movements and the threats that hang over individual freedom". She also "expressed deepest concern faced with the possibility of seeing to surge islamist dictatorships on Europe's doorstep".
About the situation in Libya
, she claimed that the confrontations pertained to a civil war in which France's interest was not to interfere. She regretted the haste of the French diplomacy which had "prematurely recognized the National Transitional Council
which spoke in the name of the Libya
n rebels". She claimed that the transfer of the US command towards NATO increased the submissiveness of the French Armed Forces. Denouncing "the US supremacy" in the military intervention, she "refused the idea that France slavishly followed the USA in this new stalemate".
One month after the launching of hostilities, she claimed that "France mired into the 'vote-catching war' of Sarkozy". She noticed that "the United Nations' mandate
had largely been overstepped", that "the war dragged on" and that "the deaths of civilians increased". Denouncing the planned dispatch of British, French and Italian military advisers, she lamented the decision of French authorities to compromise further France in "a new Afghanistan".
Interviewed by the Israel
i daily newspaper Haaretz
about the relationship between some of her European senior colleagues and some Israeli settlers and groups, Marine Le Pen said : "I myself don't understand the idea of continuing to develop the settlements
. I consider it a political mistake and would like to make it clear in this context that we must have the right to criticize the policy of the State of Israel – just as we are allowed to criticize any sovereign country – without it being considered anti-Semitism. After all, the National Front has always been Zionistic
and always defended Israel's right to exist".
In a statement about the death of Osama bin Laden
, she welcomed his "salutary elimination" and claimed that his execution was "a right and appropriate answer to the death of the victims in the 2011 Marrakech bombing
".
She regularly claims that France should promptly withdraw its troops
from Afghanistan
.
a privileged ground of all the lobbies which maintain on its territory unacceptable, criminal and 'neo-colonialist' networks of corruption". She also claims that "whereas Africa struggles to find the ways of growth and thus future prosperity, whereas starvation
or disease decimate millions of innocent souls, whereas skillfully maintained conflicts discourage the most dynamic and talented African elites, French-African relations are marred by an unforgivable misdemeanour: corruption". She advocates to "have a dialogue with Africa in line with our common history and our mutual interests" and "implement a real partnership which enables a harmonious development of the African continent". In her view, "the only reasonable way lies in a close relationship between the European and African continents, because the development of the African continent will break the migratory stranglehold which threats us and enable the two continents to live their own identities in peace, security and prosperity".
She claimed that only diplomacy, negotiation
and consultation were able to settle the tangle of the 2010–2011 Ivorian crisis
, which had begun in the aftermath of the run-off of the 2010 presidential election, when both Laurent Gbagbo
and Alassane Ouattara
have claimed victory and taken the presidential oath of office
.
Interviewed in January 2011 by the monthly panafrican magazine Première Ligne, she denounced the interference of France and the international community
in internal politics of Côte d'Ivoire
and criticized Nicolas Sarkozy's support for Alassane Ouattara as a "political mistake". Denouncing a "double standards diplomacy", she claimed that the Economic Community of West African States
(ECOWAS) is not legitimate to decide a military intervention in Côte d'Ivoire since it had not intervened in Niger
after the coup d'état
led by Salou Djibo
on 18 February 2010.
In parliamentary questions addressed to the European Commission, she denounced the violation of the article 5 of the fourth complementary agreement to Ouagadougou Political Agreement, which had planned the completion of disarmament and reunification of Côte d'Ivoire before the organization of elections.
On 12 September 2011, she strongly criticised that the Rwanda
n president Paul Kagame
be received by Nicolas Sarkozy. She claimed that "welcoming Kagame whose regime is accused in a United Nations report of 'crimes against humanity' against civilian populations
in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sarkozy once more demonstrated his contempt for law and justice". She also claimed, that "accepting to receive Kagame in Paris, he sullied the reputation of the French army outrageously accused by Kigali of having taken part in the Rwandan Genocide
.
Marine Le Pen will run for the 2012 French presidential election. On 16 May 2011, her presidential candidacy was unanimously validated by the FN Executive Committee.
On 10 and 11 September 2011, her political comeback in Nice prefigured the launching of her presidential campaign. During a press conference on 6 October 2011, she officially unveiled the line-up of her presidential campaign team. On 19 November 2011, she presented in Paris the main thematic issues of her presidential project: sovereign people and democracy, Europe, reindustrialization and strong state, family and education, immigration and assimilation versus communitarianism, geopolitics and international politics.
Attaining the best result among the seven FN European lists, her list polled 10.18% (253,009 votes) and only won one of the ten seats of MEP.
Her list achieved its highest regional result in Picardy (12.57%, 63,624 votes), its highest departmental result in Aisne
(13.40%, 19,125 votes), its highest municipal results in Pas-de-Calais : Hénin-Beaumont (27.92%, 1,799 votes), Courcelles-lès-Lens
(26.57%), Noyelles-Godault
(24.72%). Her list also polled over 10% in Nord-Pas-de-Calais (10.90%, 115,350 votes) and in four other departments : Pas-de-Calais (12.88%, 52,671 votes), Oise
(12.46%, 24,997 votes), Somme
(11.99%, 19,502 votes), Eure
(10.06%, 15,793 votes).
.
Located in the former coal mining area, this constituency is characterized by a higher level of unemployment than the national average, a significant number of citizens in recipient of welfare such as the Revenu minimum d'insertion
(RMI) and the closure of important factories like Metaleurop North with the loss of 870 jobs. A few months previously, Steeve Briois had asked her to contest this constituency, one of the socialist strongholds in northern France. Explaining the choice of this area, she declared that the constituency was symbolic, with unemployment, offshoring and insecurity representing the major problems of France. Asserting his disappointment with the incumbent socialist MP Albert Facon
, Daniel Janssens, who had been a socialist activist for thirty years and a first deputy mayor of Leforest
for 24 years, led her support committee during the electoral campaign.
Among the fourteen candidates running in the first round, she came second with 24.47% (10,593 votes) whereas Facon came top with 28.24% (12,221 votes). In order to take part in the run-off, a parliamentary candidate must cross the minimal threshold of 12.50% of the registered voters. Throughout France, she thus was the only FN candidate able to compete in a run-off. Between the first round and the run-off, she received the support of historic figures of Gaullism
like Alain Griotteray, Michel Caldagués and the souverainiste
MEP Paul-Marie Coûteaux
.
In the run-off, she achieved 41.65% (17,107 votes) winning 17.18% and 6,514 votes within a week whereas Albert Facon was re-elected as MP with 58.35% (23,965 votes). She attained her highest results in three municipalities: Courcelles-lès-Lens
(48.71%), Noyelles-Godault
(47.85%), Hénin-Beaumont (44.54%, 4,729 votes). Her results in the first round and the run-off are higher than those of Steeve Briois in 2002 (20.06%, 8,768 votes; 32.08%, 12,129 votes) whereas Facon lost 9.57% and 1,718 votes within five years (67.92%, 25,683 votes).
According to political analysts, she confirmed her political presence in this economically deprived area achieving a very high percentage of votes thanks to economic and social matters like deindustrialization, unemployment and a feeling of abandonment rather than issues such as immigration and insecurity.
in the Pas-de-Calais' 13th constituency
. There are many workers and unemployed people in this economically deprived constituency, one of the socialist strongholds in northern France.
She polled 24.24% (10,228 votes) in the first round and achieved 32.30% (12,266 votes) in the run-off whereas her socialist challenger Jean-Claude Bois polled 38.20% (16,120 votes) in the first round and was re-elected as MP with 67.70% (27,510 votes) in the run-off.
was re-elected as MP with 63.14% (22,545 votes) in the first round, she arrived in third position with 11.10% (3,963 votes) behind the socialist candidate (11.85%, 4,233 votes).
In the first round, her list polled 18.31% (224.871 votes) and arrived in third position in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. In Pas-de-Calais, her list polled 19.81% (96,556 votes) overtaking the one of the UMP (15.91%, 77,550 votes) and largely came top in Hénin-Beaumont (39.08%, 2,949 votes). Whereas Jean-Marie Le Pen's FN list attained 20.30% (296,283 votes) in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
, she nationally achieved the second highest result among the FN regional lists. In Pas-de-Calais, her result was higher in percentage than the one of Jean-Marie Le Pen in the first round of the 2002 presidential election (18.41%, 135,330 votes). In order to take part in the run-off, a regional list must cross the minimal threshold of 10% of the valid votes.
In the run-off, her list polled 22.20% (301,190 votes) and arrived in third position in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. Eighteen FN councillors were elected among the 113 of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais' regional council. Whereas Jean-Marie Le Pen's list attained 22.87% (387,374 votes) with 21 councillors elected, she nationally achieved the second highest result among the FN regional lists. In Pas-de-Calais, her list polled 24.37% (130,720 votes) overtaking the one of the UMP (22.63%, 121,365 votes) and achieved its highest municipal results in Hénin-Beaumont (44.23%, 3,829 votes) and Courcelles-lès-Lens (40.60%). Her list nationally realized the second highest departmental FN result behind Vaucluse
(26.54%). Her regional result and the one in Pas-de-Calais were higher in percentage than those of Jean-Marie Le Pen in the run-off of the 2002 presidential election (21.89%, 445,357 votes; 22.17%, 170,967 votes).
Thanks to her political success, she confirmed her regional presence and reinforced her internal position within the FN. As a member of the standing committee
and a president of the regional group (Front National/Gathering for the Nord-Pas-de-Calais), she led a resolute opposition facing the left-wing regional executive managed by Daniel Percheron.
Her list polled 12.26% (448,983 votes) in the first round and achieved 10.11% (395,565 votes) with fifteen councillors elected in the run-off.
She exercised the leadership of her regional group for five years and left it in February 2009 since she preferred to devote her energy to the European election campaign in the North-West France's constituency. A member of the standing committee, she led a strong opposition facing the left-wing regional executive managed by Jean-Paul Huchon
.
A municipal councillor since 1995, Steeve Briois led the FN list while Marine Le Pen was in second position. The FN list came second with 28.53% (3,650 votes) in the first round and achieved 28.83% (3,630 votes) with five councillors elected in the run-off. In order to take part in the run-off, a municipal list must cross the minimal threshold of 10% of the votes cast.
Despite their electoral failure, Steeve Briois and Marine Le Pen led a sharp opposition against the re-elected mayor Gérard Dalongeville, his first vice-mayor Marie-Noëlle Lienemann
and their left-wing team.
The FN list largely came top with 39.33% (4,485 votes) in the first round and achieved 47.62% (5,504 votes) with eight councillors elected in the run-off. Despite a weekly increase of 1,019 votes, the FN again failed its attempt to win the municipality.
Steeve Briois, Marine Le Pen and the six other FN councillors led the sole political opposition against the new mayor Daniel Duquenne and his successor Eugène Binaisse.
On 24 February 2011, she resigned as a municipal councillor because of the law on the accumulation of mandates ("cumul des mandats
"). In a letter entitled "I stay in Hénin-Beaumont !", she explained that her political action is more efficient for the city at regional and European levels than in the municipal council.
(15 January 2007 – 13 November 2007).
Member of the European Parliament in the North-West France constituency : Non-Inscrits (since 14 July 2009)
Welcome to a ruthless world (extract from À contre-flots chapter one, p. 9 to p. 22).
Jean-Marie Le Pen
Jean-Marie Le Pen is a French far right-wing and nationalist politician who is founder and former president of the Front National party. Le Pen has run for the French presidency five times, most notably in 2002, when in a surprise upset he came second, polling more votes in the first round than...
, former president of the FN and currently its honorary chairman.
She joined the FN in 1986, its Executive Committee in 2000 and was a vice-president of the FN for eight years (2003–2011). She currently is an ex-officio member of the FN Executive Office, Executive Committee and Central Committee.
She has been a regional councillor since 1998 (Île-de-France
Île-de-France (région)
Île-de-France is the wealthiest and most populated of the twenty-two administrative regions of France, composed mostly of the Paris metropolitan area....
: 2004–2010, Nord-Pas-de-Calais: 1998–2004, 2010–present), a Member of the European Parliament
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
since 2004 (Île-de-France
Île-de-France (European Parliament constituency)
In European elections, Île-de-France is a constituency of the European Parliament. It consists of the region of Île-de-France.-2009:-2004:Brackets indicate the number of votes per seat won....
: 2004–2009, North-West France
North-West France (European Parliament constituency)
In European elections, North-West France is a constituency of the European Parliament. It consists of the regions of Basse-Normandie, Haute-Normandie, Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardie-2009:-2004:...
: 2009–present) and was a municipal councillor in Hénin-Beaumont
Hénin-Beaumont
Hénin-Beaumont is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:Hénin-Beaumont used to be a coalmining and is now a light industrial town situated some east of Lens, at the junction of the N43, D919 and the D39 roads...
, Pas-de-Calais for three years (2008–2011).
In 2010, she was a candidate for the leadership of the FN set up by Jean-Marie Le Pen on 5 October 1972. She successfully succeeded him during the FN congress in Tours
Tours
Tours is a city in central France, the capital of the Indre-et-Loire department.It is located on the lower reaches of the river Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. Touraine, the region around Tours, is known for its wines, the alleged perfection of its local spoken French, and for the...
, Indre-et-Loire. On 16 January 2011, she was elected with 67.65% (11,546 votes) as the second president of the Front National.
She is currently running for the 2012 French presidential election
French presidential election, 2012
The 2012 French presidential election is the next presidential election, to be held on 22 April and 6 May 2012, the latter being used for a run-off if necessary...
.
Childhood
Born in 1968 at Neuilly-sur-Seine, she is the youngest of the three daughters of Jean-Marie Le Pen and his first wife Pierrette Lalanne. Jean-Marie Le Pen is a French politician from Brittany and a former paratrooperParatrooper
Paratroopers are soldiers trained in parachuting and generally operate as part of an airborne force.Paratroopers are used for tactical advantage as they can be inserted into the battlefield from the air, thereby allowing them to be positioned in areas not accessible by land...
, who founded the Front National when Marine was four years old.
The three sisters were teased at school that "papa" was a "fascist". In 1976, Marine survived a bomb attack on the family as they slept in their beds. She was eight when a bomb meant for her father exploded in the stairwell outside the family's apartment. The blast ripped a hole into the outside wall of the building. Marine, her two older sisters and their parents were unharmed.
She was a student at the lycée Florent Schmitt at Saint-Cloud
Saint-Cloud
Saint-Cloud is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris.Like other communes of the Hauts-de-Seine such as Marnes-la-Coquette, Neuilly-sur-Seine or Vaucresson, Saint-Cloud is one of the wealthiest cities in France, ranked 22nd out of the 36500 in...
. Later, her parents publicly divorced in 1987.
Legal studies and work
She studied law in the Pantheon-Assas Paris II University, graduating with a Master of LawsMaster of Laws
The Master of Laws is an advanced academic degree, pursued by those holding a professional law degree, and is commonly abbreviated LL.M. from its Latin name, Legum Magister. The University of Oxford names its taught masters of laws B.C.L...
in 1991 and a Master of Advanced Studies (DEA) of criminal law
Criminal law
Criminal law, is the body of law that relates to crime. It might be defined as the body of rules that defines conduct that is not allowed because it is held to threaten, harm or endanger the safety and welfare of people, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on people who do not obey...
in 1992. Registered at the Paris bar association
Bar association
A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...
, she worked as a lawyer for six years (1992–1998). Part of her legal work involved representing illegal immigrants. In France, when a defendant cannot afford a lawyer one is chosen to represent him or her. She often fulfilled this role.
Rise within the Front National
At the age of 18, Marine Le Pen joined the FN in 1986. In 2000, she became president of Generations Le Pen, a loose association close to the party aimed at "de-demonizing the Front National". In 1998, she joined the FN's juridical branch, which she led until 2003.In 2000, she joined the FN Executive Committee (bureau politique). In 2003, she became vice-president of the FN. In 2006, Jean-Marie Le Pen entrusted her with the management of his 2007 presidential campaign
French presidential election, 2007
The 2007 French presidential election, the ninth of the Fifth French Republic was held to elect the successor to Jacques Chirac as president of France for a five-year term.The winner, decided on 5 and 6 May 2007, was Nicolas Sarkozy...
. In 2007, she became one of the two executive vice-presidents of the FN and was in charge of training, communication and publicity.
In 1998, she acquired her first political mandate when she was elected regional councillor in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais. From 2002, she began to establish her parliamentary base in the former coal mining area of the Pas-de-Calais.
Her aim is to expand the political influence of the FN and transform it into a "big popular party that addresses itself not only to the electorate on the right but to all the French people". She has frequently stated that she rules out any political alliance with the Union for a Popular Movement
Union for a Popular Movement
The Union for a Popular Movement is a centre-right political party in France, and one of the two major contemporary political parties in the country along with the center-left Socialist Party...
.
She has at numerous times distanced herself from some of Jean-Marie Le Pen's controversial statements, notably those relating to war-crimes. The media point to her attempts to improve the party's image.
Media rise (2002–2011)
Her various appearances on television and radio have played an important role in her political rise at national and local levels. Her political personality regularly attracts the attention of the French media as well as the European, the Middle Eastern and the US press.On 5 May 2002, after the run-off of the 2002 presidential election
French presidential election, 2002
The 2002 French presidential election consisted of a first round election on 21 April 2002, and a runoff election between the top two candidates on 5 May 2002. This presidential contest attracted a greater than usual amount of international attention because of Le Pen's unexpected appearance in...
, she took part in a televised debate on France 3
France 3
France 3 is the second largest French public television channel and part of the France Télévisions group, which also includes France 2, France 4, France 5, and France Ô....
. Political analysts compared her appearance to a "media baptism" and claim that her political emergence has its roots in this debate.
During the Mots croisés programme on France 2
France 2
France 2 is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4, France 5 and France Ô...
on 5 October 2009, she quoted sections of Frédéric Mitterrand
Frédéric Mitterrand
Frédéric Mitterrand , a Franco-Tunisian citizen, is the French Minister of Culture and Communication. Throughout his career, he has been an actor, screenwriter, television presenter, writer, producer and director.-Biography:...
's autobiographical novel The Bad Life
The Bad Life
The Bad Life is a 2005 French novel by Frédéric Mitterrand, the Minister of Culture and Communication of France. The novel is partly autobiographical but fictionalized to a certain extent...
, accusing him of having sex with underage boys and engaging in "sex tourism
Sex tourism
Sex tourism is travel to engage in sexual activity with prostitutes.The World Tourism Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations, defines sex tourism as "trips organized from within the tourism sector, or from outside this sector but using its structures and networks, with the primary...
", demanding his resignation as a Minister of Culture
Minister of Culture (France)
The Minister of Culture is, in the Government of France, the cabinet member in charge of national museums and monuments; promoting and protecting the arts in France and abroad; and managing the national archives and regional "maisons de culture"...
. According to the French political commentator Jérôme Fourquet, she has broken through during the Mitterrand case and then has gained the media ascendancy over the party.
Hosted on France 2 by the journalist and commentator Arlette Chabot
Arlette Chabot
Arlette Chabot is a prominent French journalist and political commentator. She was until August 2010 the head of the editorial team of France 2...
, À vous de juger was one of the most leading political programmes. For her first appearance as a contradictory guest on 14 January 2010, she opposed Éric Besson
Éric Besson
Éric Besson is a French politician and Minister of Industry, Energy and the Digital economy under the Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry, Christine Lagarde...
, then Minister of Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Mutually-Supportive Development. For her first appearance as a main guest on 9 December 2010, she was successively questioned on economic, societal and immigration matters by Arlette Chabot and the political commentator Alain Duhamel
Alain Duhamel
Alain Duhamel is a prominent French journalist and political commentator.In 1963, Duhamel started working at Le Monde. He started giving talks on Europe 1 from 1974...
, then debated with the socialist mayor of Évry Manuel Valls
Manuel Valls
Manuel Valls is a French Socialist Party politician, deputy since 2002 and mayor of Évry.Valls was born in Barcelona and became a naturalized French citizen in 1982. He is a prominent supporter of F.C...
and endly was put against Rachida Dati
Rachida Dati
Rachida Dati is a French politician and Member of the European Parliament, representing Île-de-France. Before her election, she held the cabinet post of Keeper of the Seals, Minister of Justice. She was a spokesperson for Nicolas Sarkozy during the French presidential election of 2007...
, former Minister of Justice. Her appearance attracted 3,356,000 viewers (14.6% of the televised audience), which represented the highest viewing figures for 2010 and the fourth best since the start of the series in September 2005.
In December 2010, the French journalist Guillaume Tabard described her as the "revelation of the year". He further described her as "first an electoral phenomenon" and "a media phenomenon after".
Hosted on France 2 by the journalist and anchorman David Pujadas
David Pujadas
David Pujadas was born in Barcelona , Spain, on December 2, 1964, to a Spanish father and a French mother.A former news broadcaster for TF1's LCI, he now is an anchorman on France 2's weeknight newscast, Le Journal de 20 Heures, at 8:00 CET in Metropolitan France...
, Des paroles et des actes (Words and acts) replaced À vous de juger. For her first appearance as a main guest on 23 June 2011, she opposed Cécile Duflot
Cécile Duflot
Cécile Duflot is a French politician. She is Party Secretary of Europe Écologie–The Greens, a position she has held since November 2006 and is, with Jean-Luc Bennahmias, the only Green leader to have served two consecutive terms .-Biography:The eldest daughter of a...
, national secretary of the Greens
The Greens (France)
The Greens were a Green political party to the centre-left of the political spectrum in France. They had officially been in existence since 1984, but their spiritual roots could be traced as far back as René Dumont’s candidacy for the presidency in 1974...
. Her appearance attracted 3,582,000 viewers which represented 15.1% of the televised audience.
Hosted on TF1
TF1
TF1 is a national French TV channel, controlled by TF1 Group, whose major share-holder is Bouygues. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network...
by the anchorwoman Laurence Ferrari
Laurence Ferrari
Laurence Ferrari is a French journalist of Italian origin, and currently anchor of the TF1 weekday evening news. It is the most viewed news television programme in Europe.-Early life and education:...
and the political commentator François Bachy
François Bachy
François Bachy is a French television journalist. Born in Saint-Cloud, Hauts-de-Seine, after a law degree and a master's degree in political science, he entered the training center for journalists.-Career:...
, Parole directe (Direct speech) is one of the most leading political programmes. For her first appearance as a unique guest on 15 September 2011, she attracted an average of 6 millions of viewers (23.3% of the televised audience) with a peak of 7,3 millions in the second half of the programme.
At an international level, she was invited by the Québec web-radio Rockik in December 2008, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
(Radio Canada) in May 2010 and the Israeli radio 90FM in March 2011. In March 2011, she appeared on the front cover page of The Weekly Standard
The Weekly Standard
The Weekly Standard is an American neoconservative opinion magazine published 48 times per year. Its founding publisher, News Corporation, debuted the title September 18, 1995. Currently edited by founder William Kristol and Fred Barnes, the Standard has been described as a "redoubt of...
magazine with the title "The Future of the European Right ?".
On 4 April 2011, she appeared in the 2011 Time 100 Poll. On 21 April 2011, she appeared for the first time in the 71st position in the 2011 Time 100
Time 100
Time 100 is an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, as assembled by Time. First published in 1999 as a result of a debate among several academics, the list has become an annual event.-History and format:...
ahead of the Vice President of the People's Republic of China
Vice President of the People's Republic of China
The Vice President of the People's Republic of China , formerly called Vice Chairman of the People's Republic of China from 1954 to 1975, or abbreviated Guójiā Fù Zhǔxí 国家副主席, literally State Vice-chairman) is a senior position in the government of the People's Republic of China.-Selection and...
Xi Jinping
Xi Jinping
Xi Jinping is a high ranking politician of the People's Republic of China. He currently serves as the top-ranking member of the Secretariat of the Communist Party of China, the country's Vice President, Vice-Chairman of the Central Military Commission, President of the Central Party School and the...
(83rd position), the President of the United States Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
(86th position) and the Prime Minister of Israel
Prime Minister of Israel
The Prime Minister of Israel is the head of the Israeli government and the most powerful political figure in Israel . The prime minister is the country's chief executive. The official residence of the prime minister, Beit Rosh Hamemshala is in Jerusalem...
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is the current Prime Minister of Israel. He serves also as the Chairman of the Likud Party, as a Knesset member, as the Health Minister of Israel, as the Pensioner Affairs Minister of Israel and as the Economic Strategy Minister of Israel.Netanyahu is the first and, to...
(95th position). A Vice Chairman of the State Duma
State Duma
The State Duma , common abbreviation: Госду́ма ) in the Russian Federation is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia , the upper house being the Federation Council of Russia. The Duma headquarters is located in central Moscow, a few steps from Manege Square. Its members are referred to...
and leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia
Liberal Democratic Party of Russia
The Liberal Democratic Party of Russia , Liberal'no-Demokraticheskaya Partiya Rossii is a political party in Russia. Since its founding in 1991, it has been led by the charismatic and controversial figure Vladimir Zhirinovsky...
, Vladimir Zhirinovsky
Vladimir Zhirinovsky
Vladimir Volfovich Zhirinovsky is a Russian politician, colonel of the Russian Army, founder and the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia , Vice-Chairman of the State Duma, and a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe....
wrote a commentary about her political destiny.
Internal campaign for the FN leadership
Her candidature was endorsed by an overwhelming majority of senior executives and notably by Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of the FN.She spent four months campaigning for the FN leadership, holding meetings with FN members in 51 departments to explain in detail her political views and projects for the party. All the other departments were visited by one of her official supporters.
On 3 September 2010, she launched her internal campaign at Cuers
Cuers
Cuers is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.-External links:****...
, Var. During a meeting in Paris on 14 November 2010, she claimed: "My project is not to assemble our political family, or rather is not only to assemble our political family. It consists of shaping the Front National as the center of grouping of the whole French people". She also explained why the FN leadership and the candidature for the presidential election must not be dissociated: thus the next FN leader will run in the 2012 presidential election. During her final meeting at Hénin-Beaumont on 19 December 2010, she claimed that the FN presents the real debates of the next presidential campaign. Most of her campaign tours throughout France were reported in local newspapers and regional television programmes.
In December 2010 and early January 2011, FN members voted by post to elect their new president and the hundred members of the Central Committee. The party held its congress at Tours for two days (15–16 January 2011). On 16 January 2011, Marine Le Pen was officially elected with 67.65% (11,546 votes) as the new president of the Front National and Jean-Marie Le Pen became de facto its honorary chairman. Her challenger Bruno Gollnisch
Bruno Gollnisch
Bruno Gollnisch is a French academic and politician, a member of the National Front far-right party, and a member of the European Parliament. He was chairman of the European Parliamentary group 'Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty' in 2007, which was dissolved in November 2007 following the...
polled 32.35% (5,522 votes).
Controversy
Marine Le Pen stirred up controversy during the internal campaign. During a speech to the party faithful in LyonLyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
on 10 December 2010, she said that the weekly illegal blocking of public streets and squares throughout France (notably the rue Myrha in the 18th arrondissement of Paris) for Muslim prayers is comparable with an occupation of parts of French territory. The fact that she had mentioned World War II brought claims from the media and politicians that she had drawn a controversial parallel with the German occupation of France (May 1940 – December 1944).
The whole political and media class strongly criticized her statement, which was widely commented on by different political analysts. Whereas the CRIF
Conseil Représentatif des Institutions juives de France
Conseil Représentatif des Institutions juives de France is an umbrella organization of French Jewish organizations. CRIF opposes anti-Semitism and policies that they perceive to be anti-Semitic....
, the French Council of Muslim Faith (CFCM) and the LICRA denounced her statement, other groups like the MRAP and the LDH
Human Rights League (France)
The Human Rights League of France, is a Human Rights NGO founded on 4 June 1898 by the republican Ludovic Trarieux to defend captain Alfred Dreyfus, a Jew wrongly convicted for treason - this would be known as the Dreyfus Affair...
declared their intention of lodging a formal complaint. The imam
Imam
An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...
of the Great Mosque of Paris and former president of the CFCM, Dalil Boubakeur, claimed that though her parallel was questionable and condemnable, she had asked a valid question.
A member of the FN's Executive Committee, Louis Aliot
Louis Aliot
Born on 4 September 1969 at Ax-les-Thermes , Louis Aliot is a French politician, a lawyer by profession and a vice-president of the Front National since 16 January 2011...
, denounced "the attempted manipulation of opinion by communitarian groups and those really responsible for the current situation in France". On 13 December 2010, she confirmed her statement during a press conference held in the FN's headquarters in Nanterre
Nanterre
Nanterre is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located west of the center of Paris.Nanterre is the capital of the Hauts-de-Seine department as well as the seat of the Arrondissement of Nanterre....
. After Jean-François Kahn
Jean-François Kahn
-Biography:Born in Viroflay, Yvelines, he is the brother of scientist Axel Kahn, and son of a Jewish father and a Catholic mother. Having obtained a degree in history, he started work at a postal sorting office, then at a printing works. He soon moved into journalism and was sent to cover the war...
's comments on BFM TV on 13 December 2010, she denounced "state manipulation" mounted from the Elysée
Élysée Palace
The Élysée Palace is the official residence of the President of the French Republic, containing his office, and is where the Council of Ministers meets. It is located near the Champs-Élysées in Paris....
with the intention of demonizing her in public opinion.
President of the FN (2011–present)
As a president of the Front National, Marine Le Pen currently sits as an ex-officio member among the FN Executive Office (8 members), the Executive Committee (42 members) and the Central Committee (3 ex-officio members, 100 elected members, 20 co-opted members).During her opening speech in Tours on 16 January 2011, she advocated to "restore the political framework of the national community" and to implement the direct democracy
Direct democracy
Direct democracy is a form of government in which people vote on policy initiatives directly, as opposed to a representative democracy in which people vote for representatives who then vote on policy initiatives. Direct democracy is classically termed "pure democracy"...
which enables the "civic responsibility and the collective tie" thanks to the participation of public-spirited citizens for the decisions. The predominant political theme was the uncompromising defence of a protective and efficient State
State (polity)
A state is an organized political community, living under a government. States may be sovereign and may enjoy a monopoly on the legal initiation of force and are not dependent on, or subject to any other power or state. Many states are federated states which participate in a federal union...
, which favours secularism
Secularism
Secularism is the principle of separation between government institutions and the persons mandated to represent the State from religious institutions and religious dignitaries...
, prosperity and liberties. She also denounced the "Europe of Bruxelles" which "everywhere imposed the destructive principles of ultra-liberalism and Free trade
Free trade
Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...
, at the expense of public utilities, employment, social equity and even our economic growth which became within twenty years the weakest of the world.
After the traditional Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc
Saint Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" , is a national heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. A peasant girl born in eastern France who claimed divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, which paved the way for the...
and Labor Day march in Paris on 1 May 2011, she gave her first speech in front of 3.000 supporters.
On 28 July 2011, she reacted after the publication of the IMF
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
yearly report on France. In a letter addressed to the managing director of IMF Christine Lagarde
Christine Lagarde
Christine Madeleine Odette Lagarde is a French lawyer and the managing director of the International Monetary Fund since July 5, 2011...
, she explained in detail the "four pillars to get out France of the debt and straighten out our public accounts". On 11 August 2011, she held an exceptional press conference about the current systemic crisis. During her press conference organized on 6 September 2011 at the Pont de la Concorde
Pont de la Concorde (Paris)
The Pont de la Concorde is an arch bridge across the River Seine in Paris connecting the Quai des Tuileries at the Place de la Concorde and the Quai d'Orsay...
in front of the National Assembly, she vigorously denounced the favourable voting by Socialist and UMP-NC
New Centre
New Centre , also known as the European Social Liberal Party is a centre-right political party in France, formed by the members of the Union for French Democracy – including a majority of former parliamentarians – who did not agree with François Bayrou's...
MPs of second Greek bailout plan.
On 10 and 11 September 2011, she made her political comeback with the title "the voice of people, the spirit of France" in the convention center
Convention center
A convention center is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typically offer sufficient floor area to accommodate several thousand attendees...
of Acropolis
Palais des Congrès Acropolis
The Palais des Congrès Acropolis is a convention center for Nice, France. It hosts various conventions. It has also hosted the 1999 Davis Cup final, where the main convention was converted into a temporary tennis court.-External links:*...
in Nice. During her closing speech on 11 September 2011, she tackled the audience about immigration, insecurity, the economic and social situation, reindustrialization and 'strong state'.
She regularly holds thematic press conferences and interventions on varied issues in French, European and international politics.
Ideology
Economy
Marine Le Pen claims that the FN's immigration programme is better known among the voters; she thus concentrates on the party's economic and social programme.Opposed to free trade
Free trade
Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...
and autarky
Autarky
Autarky is the quality of being self-sufficient. Usually the term is applied to political states or their economic policies. Autarky exists whenever an entity can survive or continue its activities without external assistance. Autarky is not necessarily economic. For example, a military autarky...
, she advocates protectionism
Protectionism
Protectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between states through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and a variety of other government regulations designed to allow "fair competition" between imports and goods and services produced domestically.This...
as a median way. In her view, if one considers the economy to be a raging river, then free trade is like allowing the torrent to rush along unchecked; autarky equates to the erection of a dam whereas protectionism is to install a sluice gate. "Protectionism is not autarky ! ... Our position is not extreme – as our opponents would have it believed – but one which favours the middle way".
In 2010, she vigorously criticized the pension plan drawn up by Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....
and his liberal-conservative government.
She paid tribute to the economist Maurice Allais
Maurice Allais
Maurice Félix Charles Allais was a French economist, and was the 1988 winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics "for his pioneering contributions to the theory of markets and efficient utilization of resources."...
, who died on 9 October 2010. The sole French laureate of the Nobel Prize in Economics
Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences
The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, commonly referred to as the Nobel Prize in Economics, but officially the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel , is an award for outstanding contributions to the field of economics, generally regarded as one of the...
(1988), Allais had expressed concerns about the 1992 Maastricht Treaty
Maastricht Treaty
The Maastricht Treaty was signed on 7 February 1992 by the members of the European Community in Maastricht, Netherlands. On 9–10 December 1991, the same city hosted the European Council which drafted the treaty...
, the single European currency, free trade and Globalization
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
and the 2004 European Constitution
Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe
The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe , , was an unratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for the European Union...
.
She favours the repeal of the 1973 Pompidou-Giscard Law, which makes it illegal for France to borrow at zero or a low rate of interest from the Banque de France
Banque de France
The Banque de France is the central bank of France; it is linked to the European Central Bank . Its main charge is to implement the interest rate policy of the European System of Central Banks...
and forces the country to borrow at higher rate on the international financial markets. In her view, the national debt has grown steeply because of this law. She claimed that in 2010 France had already refunded 1.355 trillion euros of accrued interest on loans at a time when the national debt represented around 1.650 trillion euros.
She claims to be attached to the French public utilities, the civil servants
French Civil Service
The French Civil Service is the set of civil servants working for the French government.Not all employees of the state and public institutions or corporations are civil servants; however, the media often incorrectly equate "government employee" or "employee of a public corporation" with...
and the general interest. She thus opposes the programmed privatization
Privatization
Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency or public service from the public sector to the private sector or to private non-profit organizations...
of the French Post Office
La Poste (France)
La Poste is the mail service of France, which also operates postal services in the French Overseas Departments of Réunion, Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guiana, and the territorial collectivities of Saint Pierre and Miquelon and Mayotte...
(La Poste) : in her view, "the privatization, with the aim of only making profitable, will result in the removal of post offices in the rural areas where the relinquishment of the state is already high". In October 2009, she claimed that three post offices had already disappeared each day in France since 1 January 2009. She reminded that the liberalization
Economic liberalization
Economic liberalization is a very broad term that usually refers to fewer government regulations and restrictions in the economy in exchange for greater participation of private entities; the doctrine is associated with classical liberalism...
of the French public utilities had been ratified by the former Prime Minister Lionel Jospin
Lionel Jospin
Lionel Jospin is a French politician, who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002.Jospin was the Socialist Party candidate for President of France in the elections of 1995 and 2002. He was narrowly defeated in the final runoff election by Jacques Chirac in 1995...
during the Barcelona summit on 15 and 16 March 2002. She had also warned that the UMP government planned a "progressive privatization of the French Social Security
Social Security in France
Social Security in France is divided into four branches:*illness;*old age;*family;*recovery.From an institutional point of view, French social security is made up of diverse organismes collectively referred to as La Sécu, an abbreviation of Sécurité Sociale.- History of social protection:From the...
system from 2011" – a condition imposed by the financial markets.
During a press conference in June 2011, she advocated to reintroduce the Havana Charter
Havana Charter
Havana Charter was the charter of the defunct International Trade Organization . It was signed by 53 countries on March 24, 1948. It allowed for international cooperation and rules against anti-competitive business practices. The charter ultimately failed because the Congress of the United States...
and implement an "International Trade Organization" (in place of World Trade Organization
World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization is an organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade , which commenced in 1948...
), in order to reorganize the world trade exchanges. Signed by 53 countries and rejected by US in 1951, this Charter was a trade agreement that would have established an international currency known as the Bancor
Bancor
The Bancor was a supranational currency that John Maynard Keynes and E. F. Schumacher conceptualised in the years 1940-42 and which the United Kingdom proposed to introduce after the Second World War...
. She claimed that the "Havana Charters's proposals perfectly fit into her economic philosophy" and that "its first article conciliates international trade and employment".
During her speech at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
in November 2011, she proposed "three essential solutions to stop the current world systemic crisis and turn the world towards a greater justice and greater prosperity": reintroduction of a "polymetallic standard" in the International monetary systems
International monetary systems
International monetary systems are sets of internationally agreed rules, conventions and supporting institutions that facilitate international trade, cross border investment and generally the reallocation of capital between nation states. They provide means of payment acceptable between buyers and...
as a world standard of reference and exchanges in order to establish a "free monetary system" and struggle against speculation; the ratification of the modernized Havana Charter by the 1948 signatory nations and incoming emerging countries, in order to favour a "reasonable protectionism that encourages cooperation in trade among nations through the end of 'unbridled free trade'"; application of the 1933 Glass–Steagall Act, which legally separated investment banking and commercial banking, to “the banking system of each country”. In her view, these solutions will be able to support globally employment thanks to the integration of "full employment" appearing as one of the main targets of the Havana Charter and industry thanks to the authorization of state aids appearing in the Charter's article 13.
In October 2011, she advocated to implement a drastic regulation of the banking sector separating by the law the deposit banks
Deposit account
A deposit account is a current account, savings account, or other type of bank account, at a banking institution that allows money to be deposited and withdrawn by the account holder. These transactions are recorded on the bank's books, and the resulting balance is recorded as a liability for the...
from the merchant bank
Merchant bank
A merchant bank is a financial institution which provides capital to companies in the form of share ownership instead of loans. A merchant bank also provides advisory on corporate matters to the firms they lend to....
s. She claimed that "the deposit banks should be rescued by a temporary and partial nationalization
Nationalization
Nationalisation, also spelled nationalization, is the process of taking an industry or assets into government ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to private assets, but may also mean assets owned by lower levels of government, such as municipalities, being...
". In her view, "the balance sheet
Balance sheet
In financial accounting, a balance sheet or statement of financial position is a summary of the financial balances of a sole proprietorship, a business partnership or a company. Assets, liabilities and ownership equity are listed as of a specific date, such as the end of its financial year. A...
of the banks should be the object of a transparency operation".
In October 2011, she pledged to "cut immediately seven expenses as harmful as expensive" in order to preserve in the short term France's AAA credit rating
Credit rating
A credit rating evaluates the credit worthiness of an issuer of specific types of debt, specifically, debt issued by a business enterprise such as a corporation or a government. It is an evaluation made by a credit rating agency of the debt issuers likelihood of default. Credit ratings are...
and save €30 billion a year.
A president of the Mouvement des Entreprises de France
Mouvement des Entreprises de France
The Mouvement des Entreprises de France or MEDEF is the largest union of employers in France. It was formerly known as the Conseil National du Patronat Français or CNPF .It has more than 700,000 member firms, 90% are from SME, with fewer than 50 employees...
(MEDEF), Laurence Parisot
Laurence Parisot
Laurence Parisot is the head of the French MEDEF employers' union since the 5 July 2005...
regularly levels strong criticism at the FN's economic and social programme. She replied that "the FN is not the friend of the CAC 40 and is fighting the social regression brought about by the MEDEF and inflicted on the French people by the allies of the UMP and the PS". After Parisot's new criticism, she claims that "the philosophy of the FN's economic project comes down to some words: construction of a strong, protective and strategist state, reasoned protections at the boundaries, support to the small and medium enterprises, and get back the monetary sovereignty, only able to assure France's recovery". She also replied that "Laurence Parisot, this is the exact opposite of her democratic and republican project, a project of hope which puts back man and nation in the center of politics". After the publication of Parisot's critical book relating to the FN economic project, she suggested a "direct and public debate" with the president of the MEDEF.
Agriculture and environment
In her view, "the Common Agricultural PolicyCommon Agricultural Policy
The Common Agricultural Policy is a system of European Union agricultural subsidies and programmes. It represents 48% of the EU's budget, €49.8 billion in 2006 ....
(CAP) after 2013 will be unable to protect our farmers from speculators and savage global competition, or to compensate for the excesses of the multinationals of the food processing industry and large-scale distributors. The CAP after 2013 will remain wedged between the ultraliberal and internationalist market logic of the European Commission and a future ‘green’ CAP, in reality serving the neo-capitalists of ecological business".
During her first visit at the Paris International Agricultural Show
Paris International Agricultural Show
Paris International Agricultural Show is an annual agricultural exposition and fair, that takes place end of February or beginning of March at the Porte de Versailles in Paris, France...
on 25 February 2011, Marine Le Pen denounced the CAP as an "unbearable bureaucracy" and advocated to substitute it for a "French agricultural policy". She also claimed that "leaving the EU, we could allocate 15 billions of euro to our agriculture".
She claims that 'internationalist organisations' such as EU, FAO
Food and Agriculture Organization
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is a specialised agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Serving both developed and developing countries, FAO acts as a neutral forum where all nations meet as equals to negotiate agreements and...
, United Nations and G-20
G-20 major economies
The Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors is a group of finance ministers and central bank governors from 20 major economies: 19 countries plus the European Union, which is represented by the President of the European Council and by the European Central Bank...
are directly responsible for the food crises throughout the world. She advocates France's food independence with regard to multinationals and "a realignment of the farm aid politics to the third countries in order to favour their food sovereignty in particular by the reintroduction of localized food crops".
She advocates to implement the "autarky of big spaces" and an "economy in concentric circles". In her view, it is an "ecological heresy to consume products grown at 20,000 km away and recycle waste thousands km further". She claims that we should "produce to the closest", "distribute on the spot", "consume as a priority products of its region" and then "in the nearby region" if not produced on the spot. She seeks to implement "contracts of cooperation" if necessary goods like coffee are not produced in Europe.
Energy and transport
Marine Le Pen regularly denounces sharp rises in energy prices (gas, gasoline, electricity) which has "harmful consequences on the purchasing power of the working and middle-class families". In her view, this rise mainly stems from the European liberalization of the energy sector, jointly implemented by right wing and socialist governments since 1996.She advocates an immediate reduction of 20% of the domestic tax on oil products (TIPP), a surchage of fantastic profits of the largest gas and oil companies and a struggle against international speculation
Speculation
In finance, speculation is a financial action that does not promise safety of the initial investment along with the return on the principal sum...
on basic products such as food and energy. She considers that "a strong state has authority to be the guarantor of public utilities, being the exclusive owner of the strategic companies of public utility and the regulator of tariffs".
After a fatal event occurred on 12 September 2011 in the Centraco
Centraco
Centraco , is a factory run by the Society for packaging waste and industrial effluents...
nuclear installation located on the Marcoule Nuclear Site, she claimed that "this accident illustrated the dangerousness of this energy and the necessity to consider a progressive and well-thought-out exit from nuclear power
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
". In her view, "the State must secure the 58 French nuclear power plants
Nuclear power in France
Nuclear power is the primary source of electric power in France. In 2004, 425.8 TWh out of the country's total production of 540.6 TWh of electricity was from nuclear power , the highest percentage in the world....
and invest in researches to process nuclear waste
Radioactive waste
Radioactive wastes are wastes that contain radioactive material. Radioactive wastes are usually by-products of nuclear power generation and other applications of nuclear fission or nuclear technology, such as research and medicine...
". She advocates to "start the energy diversification of France, in particular with an ambitious programme of research into hydrogen
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the symbol H. With an average atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant chemical element, constituting roughly 75% of the Universe's chemical elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly...
".
She favours accompanied combined transport
Accompanied combined transport
Accompanied combined transport is a form of intermodal transport, which is the movement of goods in one and the same loading unit or road vehicle, using successively two or more modes of transport without handling the goods themselves in changing modes...
(ferroutage) and public transport.
Taxation
Marine Le Pen denounces the current corporate taxCorporate tax
Many countries impose corporate tax or company tax on the income or capital of some types of legal entities. A similar tax may be imposed at state or lower levels. The taxes may also be referred to as income tax or capital tax. Entities treated as partnerships are generally not taxed at the...
as "a crying injustice". She claims that the main groups of CAC 40 only pay 8% of corporate tax whereas the small offices/home offices
Small office/home office
Small office/home office, or SOHO, refers to the category of business or cottage industry which involves from 1 to 10 workers. SOHO can also stand for single office/home office....
, the small and medium entreprises, the craftsmen
Artisan
An artisan is a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative, including furniture, clothing, jewellery, household items, and tools...
and the shopkeeper
Shopkeeper
A shopkeeper is an individual who owns a shop. Generally, shop employees are not shopkeepers, but are often incorrectly referred to as shopkeepers. Today, a shopkeeper is usually referred to as a manager, though this term could apply to larger firms .*In many south asian languages like Hindi, Urdu,...
s fully pay 33.33%. She advocates to implement a flexible corporate tax according to the use of profits
Profit (economics)
In economics, the term profit has two related but distinct meanings. Normal profit represents the total opportunity costs of a venture to an entrepreneur or investor, whilst economic profit In economics, the term profit has two related but distinct meanings. Normal profit represents the total...
: heavier when the profits benefit the shareholder
Shareholder
A shareholder or stockholder is an individual or institution that legally owns one or more shares of stock in a public or private corporation. Shareholders own the stock, but not the corporation itself ....
s and lighter when the profits turn towards profit sharing
Profit sharing
Profit sharing, when used as a special term, refers to various incentive plans introduced by businesses that provide direct or indirect payments to employees that depend on company's profitability in addition to employees' regular salary and bonuses...
, salaries
Salary
A salary is a form of periodic payment from an employer to an employee, which may be specified in an employment contract. It is contrasted with piece wages, where each job, hour or other unit is paid separately, rather than on a periodic basis....
, employment and productive investment, enabling a relocation of activities.
European Union and globalization
As a euroscepticEuroscepticism
Euroscepticism is a general term used to describe criticism of the European Union , and opposition to the process of European integration, existing throughout the political spectrum. Traditionally, the main source of euroscepticism has been the notion that integration weakens the nation state...
MEP, she holds globalization, intergovernmental organizations, 'euro-mondialism', free trade and ultra-liberalism responsible for the decline of agriculture and the fishing industry
Fishing industry
The fishing industry includes any industry or activity concerned with taking, culturing, processing, preserving, storing, transporting, marketing or selling fish or fish products....
, deindustrialization, offshoring
Offshoring
Offshoring describes the relocation by a company of a business process from one country to another—typically an operational process, such as manufacturing, or supporting processes, such as accounting. Even state governments employ offshoring...
and structural unemployment
Structural unemployment
Structural unemployment is a form of unemployment resulting from a mismatch between demand in the labour market and the skills and locations of the workers seeking employment...
. Advocating a 'Europe of the nations' like a loose confederation of sovereign nation states, she opposes supranationalism, the euro and the eurozone
Eurozone
The eurozone , officially called the euro area, is an economic and monetary union of seventeen European Union member states that have adopted the euro as their common currency and sole legal tender...
, the technocracy of Brussels, and the EU's federalism.
She opposes the establishment of a direct European tax, which is favoured by the leaders of the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
and European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
. She claims that an indirect European tax already exists, since France is a net annual contributor to the EU budget by up to 7 billion euros annually.
Opposed to the accession of Turkey to the European Union
Accession of Turkey to the European Union
Turkey's application to accede to the European Union was made on 14 April 1987. Turkey has been an associate member of the European Union and its predecessors since 1963...
, she prefers the option of a "privileged partnership".
Treaty of Lisbon
She claims that the Treaty of LisbonTreaty of Lisbon
The Treaty of Lisbon of 1668 was a peace treaty between Portugal and Spain, concluded at Lisbon on 13 February 1668, through the mediation of England, in which Spain recognized the sovereignty of Portugal's new ruling dynasty, the House of Braganza....
is the 'gravedigger of the independence and identity of the European nations' and the 'executioner of public utilities in the name of a cult of profitability and free competition
Free market
A free market is a competitive market where prices are determined by supply and demand. However, the term is also commonly used for markets in which economic intervention and regulation by the state is limited to tax collection, and enforcement of private ownership and contracts...
– both mortal enemies of public interest
Public interest
The public interest refers to the "common well-being" or "general welfare." The public interest is central to policy debates, politics, democracy and the nature of government itself...
'. In her view, the Treaty of Lisbon is an 'exact copy' of the European Constitution which was rejected after two referenda: the first by 54.67% of the French citizens on 29 May 2005
French referendum on the European Constitution
The French referendum on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe was held on 29 May 2005 to decide whether France should ratify the proposed Constitution of the European Union...
and then by 61.54% of the Dutch citizens on 1 June 2005
Dutch referendum on the European Constitution
The Dutch referendum on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe was a consultative referendum that was held on 1 June 2005 to decide if the Netherlands would ratify the proposed Constitution of the European Union....
. She thus regrets that the Treaty of Lisbon was imposed on the French people by parliament in order to avoid another referendum. She also denounces its approval by the Socialist Party
Socialist Party (France)
The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in France and the largest party of the French centre-left. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in France, along with the center-right Union for a Popular Movement...
.
She denounces the Treaty's amending implemented by the EU leaders, notably Germany. In her view, the revision is aimed at "solving the euro" and "forever eliminating the budgetary sovereignty of the states to institute a kind of supranational European monetary fund".
Euro and eurozone
She regrets the absence of a public debate in France about the relevance of the single currency and claims that such a debate promoted by economists exists in Germany.She claims that the implementation of the Euro entailed a rise in price
Price
-Definition:In ordinary usage, price is the quantity of payment or compensation given by one party to another in return for goods or services.In modern economies, prices are generally expressed in units of some form of currency...
s and its abandonment would lead to an increase in purchasing power. Quoting economic data from Eurostat
Eurostat
Eurostat is a Directorate-General of the European Commission located in Luxembourg. Its main responsibilities are to provide the European Union with statistical information at European level and to promote the integration of statistical methods across the Member States of the European Union,...
(annual average growth, unemployment, GDP gap), she notes that "the European countries which did not enter the euro display higher performances than countries in the eurozone for ten years". Interviewed in October 2011 by Adam Boulton
Adam Boulton
Adam Boulton is political editor of the British television channel Sky News, a post he has held since being asked to establish the politics team for the launch of the channel in 1989.-Biography:...
on Sky News
Sky News
Sky News is a 24-hour British and international satellite television news broadcaster with an emphasis on UK and international news stories.The service places emphasis on rolling news, including the latest breaking news. Sky News also hosts localised versions of the channel in Australia and in New...
, she cited the UK's relative stability as an example of how France's economy need not suffer from pulling out of the euro. She noticed that "United Kingdom is not in the eurozone and does not have the least desire to be in it. UK does not tolerate this kind of taking away of its freedom".
In order to recover monetary sovereignty, she advocates that France should gradually leave the euro with a new conversion rate fixed to 1 euro = 1 franc
French franc
The franc was a currency of France. Along with the Spanish peseta, it was also a de facto currency used in Andorra . Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money...
. In her view, France should jointly negotiate a "grouped departure" from the euro and eurozone. This departure should take effect on the same day and include the other European countries (such as Ireland, Greece, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Spain, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, Belgium) which are suffering because of the single currency. Since the present government and the whole political class had strongly criticized her economic plan, she submitted a new document detailing how a successful departure of United Kingdom, Spain and Italy from the European Monetary System
European Monetary System
There are three stages of monetary cooperation in the European Union.-Background:European currency exchange rate stability has been one of the most important objectives of European policy makers at least since the Second World War....
(EMS) had been achieved from September 1992.
She explains the tenet and the mechanism of a competitive devaluation
Devaluation
Devaluation is a reduction in the value of a currency with respect to those goods, services or other monetary units with which that currency can be exchanged....
(J curve
J curve
The term J-curve is used in several different fields to refer to a variety of unrelated J-shaped diagrams where a curve initially falls, but then rises to higher than the starting point....
), which "will quickly have a positive effect on employment and purchasing power, stimulating industry, international trade
International trade
International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories. In most countries, such trade represents a significant share of gross domestic product...
and enabling to fight offshorings". Quoting extracts from a book by the French economist Alain Cotta, she claims that a devaluation of the franc will not bring about inflation.
She anticipates a "total economic federalization of the eurozone". In her view, "this option which is favoured by the European technostructure, presents all the features of a totalitarian utopia". She claims that a "monstrous superstructure, already named 'European ministry of Finance', would decide in the opaqueness our policies of education, health and security". In her view, "the federal headlong rush also supposes a massive financial transfer of our countries towards Southern
Southern Europe
The term Southern Europe, at its most general definition, is used to mean "all countries in the south of Europe". However, the concept, at different times, has had different meanings, providing additional political, linguistic and cultural context to the definition in addition to the typical...
and Eastern Europe, at the detriment of the most vulnerable French people".
She claims that despite the expansion of the abilities of the European Financial Stability Facility
European Financial Stability Facility
The European Financial Stability Facility is a special purpose vehicle financed by members of the eurozone to combat the European sovereign debt crisis. It was agreed by the 27 member states of the European Union on 9 May 2010, aiming at preserving financial stability in Europe by providing...
, reassuring announcements and new austerity plans, Greece is sinking, social devastation is intensifying and the anger of the people bursts out. She laments that "the contributing countries, France in particular, throw in the hole of the European debt billions which dig their deficits and come them closer to the eye of the cyclone". In her view, "the hundred of billions paid do not product any result, will not settle any problem, will not rescue a eurozone already in bankruptcy and push France into the chasm of excessive debt, whereas the French debt has already exploded under the mandate of Nicolas Sarkozy". On July 2011, she claimed that "after the seventeen billions of the first plan, the fifteen billions of the new assistance plan to Greece will make heavy our own already huge debt". Fearing that "France falls into the excessive debt", she refuses "any new assistance plan in order to bail out one after the other the countries suffering because of the single currency".
Geopolitics and intergovernmental organizations
She pledged to pull France out of NATO, saying that the National Front has from day one been opposed to NATO membership. Interviewed in October 2011 by KommersantKommersant
Kommersant is a commerce-oriented newspaper published in Russia. , the circulation was 131,000.- History :The newspaper was initially published in 1909, and it was closed down following the Bolshevik seizure of power and the introduction of censorship in 1917.In 1989, with the onset of press...
, she claimed that "she believed in a multipolar world
Polarity in international relations
Polarity in international relations is any of the various ways in which power is distributed within the international system. It describes the nature of the international system at any given period of time. One generally distinguishes four types of systems: Unipolarity, Bipolarity, Tripolarity, and...
".
In her view, France has also to revise its geostrategic relations with the USA. She regularly denounces France's bandwagoning
Bandwagoning
In realist theories of international relations, bandwagoning refers to the act of weaker states joining a stronger power or coalition within balance of power politics. The term is opposed to balancing, and unlike balancing, is a relatively new term...
towards the USA. She advocates that France takes its independence towards US and regains the geopolitical independence beloved of Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
.
In May 2011, she claimed that the "old institutions" such as World Trade Organization
World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization is an organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade , which commenced in 1948...
, World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
and International Monetary Fund were "expired".
In 2011, she advocated the "replacement of WTO by an 'International World Organization', founded on the sane principles of protection, interest of people and support to small and medium entreprises, the 'humbles' faced with the 'powerful' and cartels".
In her view, IMF which "has become an infernal machine at the service of the ultraliberal ideology, is in its current form an extremely harmful institution". She claims that "the structural adjustment plans that IMF imposes on countries where it operates, systematically result in privatization of public utilities, dismantling of the state, drop in salaries and pensions, and removal of protections at boundaries". In her view, "peoples are always the first victims of IMF like in Argentina in 2001 and today in Greece". She claims that "the in-depth results of IMF are disastrous : rise in debts and sharp increase in rhythm of financial crises
Financial crisis
The term financial crisis is applied broadly to a variety of situations in which some financial institutions or assets suddenly lose a large part of their value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with banking panics, and many recessions coincided with these...
for two decades". She consequently advocates the abolition of IMF.
Illegal immigration
Marine Le Pen advocates to "vote the abolition of the law enabling the regularization of the illegal immigrants". In her view, "this measure corresponds with the interest of France, the respect of its authority and the most elementary justice".In July 2011, she wrote an open letter to policemen, gendarmes and customs officers concerning the policy of fight against illegal immigration
Illegal immigration
Illegal immigration is the migration into a nation in violation of the immigration laws of that jurisdiction. Illegal immigration raises many political, economical and social issues and has become a source of major controversy in developed countries and the more successful developing countries.In...
. She criticized the "passivity and inactivity of the UMP government faced with the collapse of expulsions of illegal immigrants" as well as its "blind submissiveness to very questionable European injunctions". Denouncing a "sharp fall in deportations since the beginning of 2011 after a decrease of near 5% in 2010", she claimed that "most of the detention centres are almost empty in 2011". Advocating the "return of any foreigner illegally entered to France towards his/her country of origin", she claims that she "refuses to give up the fight against illegal immigration".
She favours a "radical change of politics in order to drastically reduce upstream the influx of illegal immigrants towards France". In her view, this policy requires to "cut the 'suction pumps' of illegal immigration while France is in this field one of the most incentive countries in the world". Implemented in 2000 by Lionel Jospin's government, the aide médicale d'Ėtat (AME) grants free medical care to illegal immigrants. Denouncing a "state scandal" and an "increasing financial black hole for the French social security system", she "pledges to repeal the AME as soon as she will come to power". She claims that, in the wake of selected immigration and then endured immigration, Nicolas Sarkozy is imposing health-care immigration on the French people.
In February 2011, she claimed that in the wake of the Arab Spring
Arab Spring
The Arab Spring , otherwise known as the Arab Awakening, is a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests occurring in the Arab world that began on Saturday, 18 December 2010...
, Europe and particularly France would be confronted with a surge in illegal immigration. She denounced "the EU's tragic helplessness to respond to this new migratory challenge" and "the EU's disability to face with these emergency situations and to control effectively the migratory flows".
Accompanied by the vice-president of the FN Louis Aliot and Mario Borghezio
Mario Borghezio
Mario Borghezio is an Italian politician from the Northern League. He is a Member of the European Parliament, and sits with the eurosceptic Europe of Freedom and Democracy group. He is a member of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairsand of the Committee on Petitions...
MEP (Lega Nord), she travelled to Lampedusa
Lampedusa
Lampedusa is the largest island of the Italian Pelagie Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. The comune of Lampedusa e Linosa is part of the Sicilian province of Agrigento which also includes the smaller islands of Linosa and Lampione. It is the southernmost part of Italy. Tunisia, which is about ...
on 14 March 2011. She met the island's mayor Bernardino De Rubeis (Movement for Autonomies) and visited a housing center for illegal immigrants. She said that "Europe can't welcome everyone... We would be pleased to take them all in our boat, but it's not big enough. We'll all go to the bottom. We would be adding one misery to another" and "I also want to offer my support to the inhabitants of Lampedusa who have had the feeling of being completely abandoned". Around 9,000 migrants had already reached Lampedusa by boat since mid-January 2011 when protests in Tunisia
Tunisian revolution
The Tunisian Revolution is an intensive campaign of civil resistance, including a series of street demonstrations taking place in Tunisia. The events began in December 2010 and led to the ousting of longtime President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011...
unleashed a revolution across the Arab world
Arab world
The Arab world refers to Arabic-speaking states, territories and populations in North Africa, Western Asia and elsewhere.The standard definition of the Arab world comprises the 22 states and territories of the Arab League stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the...
. During an international press conference held in Rome on 15 March 2011, she explained the situation of illegal immigration in Lampedusa, emphasized "the helplessness of EU" and how "each nation is more efficient to deal with the issue", and proposed solutions to settle this issue.
In order to curb the illegal immigration influx from Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
and Libya, she has enjoined Nicolas Sarkozy to announce France's immediate and definitive withdrawal from Schengen Area
Schengen Area
The Schengen Area comprises the territories of twenty-five European countries that have implemented the Schengen Agreement signed in the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, in 1985...
and to reinstate urgently customs controls in all the borders of the country. She claimed that the UMP government's deceptive announcements about Schengen issue aimed at concealing its political inactivity and attempting to cheat public opinion. In her view, the announcement of a technical adjustment of Schengen Agreement
Schengen Agreement
The Schengen Agreement is a treaty signed on 14 June 1985 near the town of Schengen in Luxembourg, between five of the ten member states of the European Economic Community. It was supplemented by the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement 5 years later...
proposed by Nicolas Sarkozy and Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...
during the 26 April 2011 French-Italian summit "will not settle strictly anything". Reminding that United Kingdom and Ireland have refused the Agreement, she claims that only the withdrawal from Schengen Area will enable France to re-establish necessary customs controls and stop immigration. She claims that "traffics and networks of smugglers thrive when a country does not control its borders".
Legal immigration
She seeks to establish a moratorium on legal immigration. During a press conference on 21 February 2011, she unveiled "the 2010 real figures of immigration" based on data transmitted by highrankers of the Minister of the InteriorMinister of the Interior (France)
The Minister of the Interior in France is one of the most important governmental cabinet positions, responsible for the following:* The general interior security of the country, with respect to criminal acts or natural catastrophes...
, detailed the welfare benefits to which the legal and illegal immigrants are entitled, endly proposed concrete solutions based on working models in UK and Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. In July 2011, she claims that "with 203,000 residence permits allocated in 2010 versus 114,000 in 2000 under Lionel Jospin, the UMP power promotes a laxer than ever policy of legal immigration".
On 28 November 2010
Swiss referendum, November 2010
A referendum was held in Switzerland on 28 November 2010 on two issues:* «Für die Ausschaffung krimineller Ausländer» , proposed by the SVP, as well as a counterproposal by the other parties; and...
, 52.9% of the Swiss voters and 15 5/2 cantons
Cantons of Switzerland
The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...
approved the popular iniative "for the deportation of criminal foreigners" while the governmental counterproposal was rejected by 54.2% of voters and all the 20 6/2 cantons. She praised "the great victory of the Swiss people against the ruling elite". Afterwards, she took part in debates on Radio Suisse Romande
Radio Suisse Romande
Radio suisse romande is an enterprise unit within public-broadcasting corporation SRG SSR. It is responsible for the production and transmission of French-language radio programmes in Switzerland...
(RSR) with the SVP
Swiss People's Party
The Swiss People's Party , also known as the Democratic Union of the Centre , is a conservative political party in Switzerland. Chaired by Toni Brunner, but spearheaded by Christoph Blocher, the party is the largest party in the Federal Assembly, with 58 members of the National Council and 6 of...
national councillor
National Council of Switzerland
The National Council of Switzerland is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland. With 200 seats, it is the larger of the two houses....
Oskar Freysinger
Oskar Freysinger
Oskar Freysinger is a Swiss politician of the Swiss People's Party.- Biography :Freysinger studied at a German-speaking school in Sion, and later studied German literature and philosophy, and French literature, obtaining a teaching degree in 1985.Freysinger has taught at the Lycée-Collège de la...
and then on Radio Cité Genève.
Interviewed by The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
, she praised David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
's pledge to cut net annual immigration to UK from around 200,000 to "tens of thousands". In February 2011, David Cameron expressed a rejection of multiculturalism
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
during a speech at Munich security conference
Munich Conference on Security Policy
The Munich Conference on Security Policy is an annual conference on international security policy that is held in the Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich, Germany.The 47th Munich Security Conference will be held from February 4th through February 6th 2011....
. Afterwards, she congratulated him, for what she claimed was an endorsement of the FN's views on the failure of multiculturalism and immigration.
Citizenship and nationality
In her view, citizenshipCitizenship
Citizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities...
is indivisible from nationality and rests on the equality of all people before the law; the latter should preclude preferential treatment based on the membership of a social, ethnic or religious category. As a result, she favours the repeal of affirmative action
Affirmative action
Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...
and the restoration of the "republican meritocracy
Meritocracy
Meritocracy, in the first, most administrative sense, is a system of government or other administration wherein appointments and responsibilities are objectively assigned to individuals based upon their "merits", namely intelligence, credentials, and education, determined through evaluations or...
".
She claims that filiation
Paternity (law)
In law, paternity is the legal acknowledgment of the parental relationship between a man and a child usually based on several factors.At common law, a child born to the wife during a marriage is the husband's child under the "presumption of legitimacy", and the husband is assigned complete rights,...
should be the normal route to French nationality, with naturalization
Naturalization
Naturalization is the acquisition of citizenship and nationality by somebody who was not a citizen of that country at the time of birth....
the exception : "nationality is inherited or merited". In her view, naturalization can only be obtained after a check on the ability of assimilation
Cultural assimilation
Cultural assimilation is a socio-political response to demographic multi-ethnicity that supports or promotes the assimilation of ethnic minorities into the dominant culture. The term assimilation is often used with regard to immigrants and various ethnic groups who have settled in a new land. New...
to republican principles. In order to settle the immigration issue, she advocates a reform of the nationality regulations so as to remove dual citizenship
Multiple citizenship
Multiple citizenship is a status in which a person is concurrently regarded as a citizen under the laws of more than one state. Multiple citizenships exist because different countries use different, and not necessarily mutually exclusive, citizenship requirements...
and the automatic acquisition of French nationality. On 30 May 2011, she wrote a letter to the Members of Parliament about dual citizenship: she claimed that "in the dual citizenship lie one of the main ferments of breach of the republican cohesion that France needs more than ever and a potent brake on the assimilation of French people from immigration".
She favours an enforcement of the law regarding loss of nationality. In her view, a foreigner who does not respect the law in France should be deprived of French nationality; equally any foreigner committing serious crimes and offences in France should be returned to his or her country of origin.
She favours a 'French first' policy with regard to employment, welfare and accommodation.
Communitarianism and secularism
Advocating that the FN remains a non-denominational party, Marine Le Pen regularly states her attachment to secularism (laïcitéLaïcité
French secularism, in French, laïcité is a concept denoting the absence of religious involvement in government affairs as well as absence of government involvement in religious affairs. French secularism has a long history but the current regime is based on the 1905 French law on the Separation of...
) in French society. She vigorously defends the 1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State, stipulating that the French republic does not recognise, grant a salary or subsidise any form of religious worship.
She favours a ban on any communitarian or religious demands in schools, and seeks an amendment to the Constitution
French Fifth Republic
The Fifth Republic is the fifth and current republican constitution of France, introduced on 4 October 1958. The Fifth Republic emerged from the collapse of the French Fourth Republic, replacing the prior parliamentary government with a semi-presidential system...
stating that the French republic does not recognize any community (denominations and ethnic groups). Opposed to the financing of mosques from public funds, she further seeks to deny their financing from foreign assets. In her view, the construction, maintenance and financing of places of worship should be a matter for groups of worshippers operating within a regulated framework. She advocates to implement "the separation of the mosque and the state" and opposes the training of Imams by the French republic.
On 29 November 2009
Swiss referendum, November 2009
On 29 November 2009, the citizens of Switzerland voted on a referendum to decide on three proposals on the federal level:* a ban on the construction of new minarets , passed with 57% in favour; The referendum took place following a campaign to ban minarets in the country.* a ban on exporting...
, 57.5% of Swiss voters and 19 ½ cantons approved the popular initiative "for a ban on the construction of new minarets
Minaret controversy in Switzerland
The minaret controversy in Switzerland refers to construction of minarets, which has been subject to legal and political controversy in Switzerland during the 2000s and a Swiss referendum regarding this issue. In a November 2009 referendum, a constitutional amendment banning the construction of new...
" (without retroactive effect on the four minarets already built in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
). She congratulated the Swiss people on the overwhelming approval of the ban and denounced the ruling elite for its contempt of direct democracy
Direct democracy
Direct democracy is a form of government in which people vote on policy initiatives directly, as opposed to a representative democracy in which people vote for representatives who then vote on policy initiatives. Direct democracy is classically termed "pure democracy"...
.
In February 2010, the fast food chain Quick
Quick (restaurant chain)
Quick is a Belgian chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. It is one of Europe's largest restaurants chains. In recent years, its worldwide expansion has accelerated.Quick is similar in theme to McDonald's...
announced that eight of its franchises would offer exclusively halal
Halal
Halal is a term designating any object or an action which is permissible to use or engage in, according to Islamic law. The term is used to designate food seen as permissible according to Islamic law...
meals. This decision immediately triggered a controversy among the French political class from the Socialist Party, the UMP (Lionnel Luca
Lionnel Luca
Lionnel Luca is a member of the National Assembly of France. Of Romanian origin, he represents the Alpes-Maritimes department, and is a member of the Union for a Popular Movement.-External links:...
MP) and the FN. The controversy was particularly sharp in Roubaix
Roubaix
Roubaix is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is located between the cities of Lille and Tourcoing.The Gare de Roubaix railway station offers connections to Lille, Tourcoing, Antwerp, Ostend and Paris.-Culture:...
(Nord) : the socialist mayor René Vandierendonck even threatened a lawsuit and she wrote two official statements about the matter. Denouncing an "accelerated policy of Islamisation" and a "breach of the constitutional principle of secularism", she claimed that Quick had been owned by the French state since October 2006 and that the UMP state is the owner of Quick through the Caisse des dépôts et consignations
Caisse des dépôts et consignations
The Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations is a French financial organization created in 1816, and part of the government institutions under the control of the Parliament. Augustin De Romanet is the board chairman and chief executive...
(Qualium Investissement subsidiary), which holds 99.63% of its capital.
Interviewed by Radio 1
Radio 1 (Netherlands)
Radio 1 is a radio station of the NPO, mainly broadcasting news and sport.In 2005, the following public service broadcasting companies produced weekly programmes for Radio 1: NOS, NPS, AVRO, KRO, NCRV, BNN, TROS, EO, RVU, VARA, VPRO, IKON, MAX, and WNL....
in June 2011, she said that unlike the leader of the PVV
Party for Freedom
The Party for Freedom is a Dutch right-wing political party. Founded in 2005 as the successor to Geert Wilders' one-man party in the House of Representatives, it won nine seats in the 2006 general election, making it the fifth largest party in parliament, and third largest opposition party. It...
Geert Wilders
Geert Wilders
Geert Wilders is a Dutch right-wing politician and leader of the Party for Freedom , the third-largest political party in the Netherlands. He is the Parliamentary group leader of his party in the Dutch House of Representatives...
, she is “not waging war against Islam” and "is fighting the Islamisation of French society". Emphasizing her divergence with the Dutch MP, she claimed : “That’s the difference between Geert Wilders and me. He reads the Qur’an literally: you can’t interpret the Qur’an – or indeed the Bible – literally. I resist fundamentalists
Islamic fundamentalism
Islamic fundamentalism is a term used to describe religious ideologies seen as advocating a return to the "fundamentals" of Islam: the Quran and the Sunnah. Definitions of the term vary. According to Christine L...
who want to impose their will and law on France. Sharia Law
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
is not compatible with our principles, our values or democracy.”
Societal issues
Marine Le Pen is opposed to the repeal of the 1975 Veil Law (Loi Veil) which framed abortion in a restrictive legislative provision. She claims that an unfavorable socio-economical background is a determining factor for the majority of women who have undergone an abortion. Consequently, she advocates a radical family policy more conducive to the nurturing and raising of children. Favourable to a policy aimed at increasing the birth rate, she explains her views on abortion in her autobiography À contre flots.She is strictly opposed to any softening of the law against euthanasia
Euthanasia
Euthanasia refers to the practice of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve pain and suffering....
.
She supports a referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
on whether to reinstate the capital punishment in France
Capital punishment in France
Capital punishment was practiced in France from the Middle Ages until 1977, when the last execution took place by guillotine, being the only legal method since the French Revolution. The last person to be executed in France was Hamida Djandoubi, who was put to death in September 1977. The death...
, which has been abolished in 1981. The electorate would have the choice between restoring the death penalty and introduce a 'real' life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
(without parole). Currently, French lifers are eligible for parole after serving 18 to 22 years, except in small number of cases.
National politics and overseas
On the 70th anniversary of the Appeal of 18 June, Marine Le Pen held a press conference at the FN's headquarters. Drawing a parallel with the fall of France in June 1940, she denounced the weakening of the nation state, German domination within the EU and subservience to AtlanticismAtlanticism
Atlanticism is a philosophy of cooperation among Western European and North American nations regarding political, economic, and defense issues, with the purpose to maintain the security of the participating countries, and to protect the values that unite them: "democracy, individual liberty and...
. Her goal was to become the personification of national ambition and to return to France a spirit of greatness and an awareness of its place in history.
She remains committed to France's territorial sovereignty, including the Overseas departments and territories
Overseas departments and territories of France
The French Overseas Departments and Territories consist broadly of French-administered territories outside of the European continent. These territories have varying legal status and different levels of autonomy, although all have representation in the Parliament of France , and consequently the...
. During a debate on Radio Cité Genève with Éric Bertinat, a SVP member of the Grand Council of Geneva
Grand Council of Geneva
The Grand Council of Geneva is the legislature of the canton of Geneva, in Switzerland. Geneva, styled as a 'Republic and Canton', has a unicameral legislature. The Grand Council has 100 seats, with members elected every four years...
, she vigorously opposed his proposal that the French departments of Ain
Ain
Ain is a department named after the Ain River on the eastern edge of France. Being part of the region Rhône-Alpes and bordered by the rivers Saône and Rhône, the department of Ain enjoys a privileged geographic situation...
and Haute-Savoie
Haute-Savoie
Haute-Savoie is a French department in the Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France. It borders both Switzerland and Italy. The capital is Annecy. To the north is Lake Geneva and Switzerland; to the south and southeast are the Mont Blanc and Aravis mountain ranges and the French entrance to the Mont...
be incorporated into Switzerland.
During her opening speech, she reminded that France is present in the three oceans and possesses the second-largest Exclusive Economic Zone
Exclusive Economic Zone
Under the law of the sea, an exclusive economic zone is a seazone over which a state has special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources, including production of energy from water and wind. It stretches from the seaward edge of the state's territorial sea out to 200 nautical...
in the world, covering 11 million km2 During her opening speech, she also emphasized the importance of the French language and Francophonie. She claimed that "our national language is spreading through the five continent
Continent
A continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents—they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.Plate tectonics is...
s, privilege that it only shares with English" and that "the Francophonie has to vibrate in the lands of Asia, Americas, Europe and Africa again".
In April 2011, she wrote a letter to all the prefects of France. She denounced "the weakening of the state", "the discouragement of its personnels" and "the ineffectiveness of its governance". She claimed that the history of France shows us that as soon as there is a gap of the state, the local baronies reconstruct. She proposed a politic of re-establishment of the state which will lean on the high-ranking and devoted civil servants.
Mayotte
In a referendumMahoran status referendum, 2009
A referendum on becoming an overseas department of France was held in Mayotte on 29 March 2009. Mayotte had been an overseas collectivity of France since 2003...
on becoming an overseas department held on 29 March 2009, 95.22% of the Mahoran voters approved the change of status. An overseas collectivity from 2003, Mayotte
Mayotte
Mayotte is an overseas department and region of France consisting of a main island, Grande-Terre , a smaller island, Petite-Terre , and several islets around these two. The archipelago is located in the northern Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean, namely between northwestern Madagascar and...
became France's 101 department on 31 March 2011. A third of the population of Mayotte are illegal migrants, mostly from the nearby islands
Comoro Islands
The Comoros Islands form an archipelago of volcanic islands situated off the south-east coast of Africa, to the east of Mozambique and north-west of Madagascar. They are divided between the sovereign state of Comoros and the French overseas department of Mayotte...
of the archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
which make up the independent Comoran state
Comoros
The Comoros , officially the Union of the Comoros is an archipelago island nation in the Indian Ocean, located off the eastern coast of Africa, on the northern end of the Mozambique Channel, between northeastern Mozambique and northwestern Madagascar...
. In her view, the accession of Mayotte to an overseas department will create a new in-draught for illegal immigration, which constitutes a threat for the stability of the island. She claims that the departmental status of the island requires the relinquishment of the jus soli
Jus soli
Jus soli , also known as birthright citizenship, is a right by which nationality or citizenship can be recognized to any individual born in the territory of the related state...
wished in 2005 by François Baroin
François Baroin
François Baroin is a French politician, recently appointed Finance Minister, following a stint as Minister of the Budget in the François Fillon III government...
, then Minister of Overseas
Minister of Overseas France
The Minister of Overseas France is a cabinet member in the Government of France responsible for overseeing French overseas departments and territories .The position is currently held by Brice Hortefeux, who is also the Minister of the Interior...
and the implementation of the 'French first' policy in the granting of welfare aids.
New Caledonia
Reasserting her indefectible attachment to the French Caledonia, she stated that "New CaledoniaNew Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
is in France and must stay there". In her view, "the creation of a citizenship and an acknowledgment of a 'Kanak
Kanak people
Kanak are the indigenous Melanesian inhabitants of New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France in the southwest Pacific. They constitute 44.1% of the total population of New Caledonia. Though Melanesian settlement is recorded on Grande Terre's Presqu'île de Foué peninsula as far back as the...
identity' organize a true dismemberment of the sovereignty and a breach of the unity of the French republic". In June 2010, she claimed that "the official acknowledgment of the flag
Flag of New Caledonia
Up to 2010, the only official flag of New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France, was the French tricolor. However, with the official adoption of the Kanak flag alongside the French tricolor in July 2010, New Caledonia has become one of the few countries or territories in world with two...
of the separatists of FNLKS as emblem of New Caledonia would constitute an affront to France and would show the true will of the UMP government to get rid of this French territory". She stated that "the only flag of New Caledonia, a French territory, is the French flag in accordance with the article 2 of the French constitution". In February 2011, she again claimed that "the controversial solution of the two flags, contrary to the Nouméa Accord
Nouméa Accord
The Nouméa Accord of 1998 promises to grant political power to New Caledonia and its original population, the Kanaks, until the territory decides whether to remain within the French Republic or become an independent state in a referendum to be held between 2014 and 2019...
, which was supported by the Prime Minister François Fillon
François Fillon
François Charles Armand Fillon is the Prime Minister of France. He was appointed to that office by President Nicolas Sarkozy on 17 May 2007. He served initially until 13 November 2010 when he resigned from being prime minister before a planned cabinet reshuffle.On 14 November 2010, Sarkozy...
, is an additional proof of the will of the government and Nicolas Sarkozy to want to get rid of a part of France".
Europe
She advocates to forge a privileged partnership with RussiaRussia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. She claims that a French-Russian partnership is necessited by "obvious civilization and geostrategic factors" as well as France's "energy security interests". In her view, "France's interests are in Europe, but in Great Europe, especially including its partnership with Russia". Interviewed by Kommersant, she claimed that "the process of demonization of Russia is taking place at the level of the EU leadership and at the wishes of the US, which is trying to create a unipolar world." Interviewed about democracy in Russia and Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
, she replied: "We also do not have an ideal democracy in France and, therefore, do not have the right to give Russia lessons in democracy. But I openly admit that, to some extent, I admire Vladimir Putin. He makes mistakes, but who doesn’t? The situation in Russia is complicated, and one cannot expect all the problems stemming from the collapse of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
to be quickly resolved – they require time. I think that Vladimir Putin has principles and a vision of the future that is necessary to ensure Russia’s prosperity, which it deserves.
She claims that the Front National is a "patriotic" party with more in common with the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) and its "opposition to the totalitarian character of the EU and its desire to remove people's sovereignty" than the British National Party
British National Party
The British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982...
(BNP).
On 8 June 2011, Marine Le Pen and the leader of the Freedom Party of Austria
Freedom Party of Austria
The Freedom Party of Austria is a political party in Austria. Ideologically, the party is a direct descendant of the German national liberal camp, which dates back to the 1848 revolutions. The FPÖ itself was founded in 1956 as the successor to the short-lived Federation of Independents , which had...
Heinz-Christian Strache
Heinz-Christian Strache
Heinz-Christian Strache is an Austrian politician, member of parliament, former member of the Vienna city council and political leader of the Freedom Party of Austria . He is a right-wing politician and an efficient populist...
held in the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
a joint press conference about "globalization, migration and economic threats in the UE". Both are aiming at strengthening the ties between their two respective movements and also with other eurosceptic parties.
In a statement written on 20 July 2011, she wrote that "If Belgium is going to split, if Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
pronounces its independence, which seems more and more credible a possibility, the French republic would do well to welcome Wallonia to its heart." She said that "on this eve of the Belgian National Day
National Day
The National Day is a designated date on which celebrations mark the nationhood of a nation or non-sovereign country. This nationhood can be symbolized by the date of independence, of becoming republic or a significant date for a patron saint or a ruler . Often the day is not called "National Day"...
, it is nevertheless the responsibility of France and the French to extend a hand to the Walloons
Walloons
Walloons are a French-speaking people who live in Belgium, principally in Wallonia. Walloons are a distinctive community within Belgium, important historical and anthropological criteria bind Walloons to the French people. More generally, the term also refers to the inhabitants of the Walloon...
". She claimed that "the historic and fraternal links that unite our two people are too strong for France to abandon the Walloons". She suggested any such plan to become part of France should be agreed by a referendum in both countries.
In a statement about the 2011 Norway attacks
2011 Norway attacks
The 2011 Norway attacks were two sequential terrorist attacks against the government, the civilian population and a summer camp in Norway on 22 July 2011....
, she reiterated her condolences to the Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
people and recalled her determination to fight mercilessly against all forms of violence and barbarity. In reply to a MRAP's statement, she claimed that "the Norwegian slaughter was the work of a lone lunatic who must be ruthlessly punished".
Middle East and Asia
In October 2011, she denounced a "violence wave" in Tunisia and "numerous deadly attacks" perpetrated against the Copt minority in EgyptEgypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. She claimed that "the revolutions in Maghreb, which have been led in the name of freedom and human rights, turned into a democratic fiasco and the eruption of violent islamist movements". In her view, "these violent attacks illustrate the extreme fragility of the democratic processes in countries faced with the growing influence of radical islamist movements and the threats that hang over individual freedom". She also "expressed deepest concern faced with the possibility of seeing to surge islamist dictatorships on Europe's doorstep".
About the situation in Libya
2011 Libyan civil war
The 2011 Libyan civil war was an armed conflict in the North African state of Libya, fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and those seeking to oust his government. The war was preceded by protests in Benghazi beginning on 15 February 2011, which led to clashes with security...
, she claimed that the confrontations pertained to a civil war in which France's interest was not to interfere. She regretted the haste of the French diplomacy which had "prematurely recognized the National Transitional Council
National Transitional Council
The National Transitional Council of Libya , sometimes known as the Transitional National Council, the Interim National Council, or the Libyan National Council,...
which spoke in the name of the Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
n rebels". She claimed that the transfer of the US command towards NATO increased the submissiveness of the French Armed Forces. Denouncing "the US supremacy" in the military intervention, she "refused the idea that France slavishly followed the USA in this new stalemate".
One month after the launching of hostilities, she claimed that "France mired into the 'vote-catching war' of Sarkozy". She noticed that "the United Nations' mandate
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, on the situation in Libya, is a measure that was adopted on 17 March 2011. The Security Council resolution was proposed by France, Lebanon, and the United Kingdom....
had largely been overstepped", that "the war dragged on" and that "the deaths of civilians increased". Denouncing the planned dispatch of British, French and Italian military advisers, she lamented the decision of French authorities to compromise further France in "a new Afghanistan".
Interviewed by the Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i daily newspaper Haaretz
Haaretz
Haaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...
about the relationship between some of her European senior colleagues and some Israeli settlers and groups, Marine Le Pen said : "I myself don't understand the idea of continuing to develop the settlements
Israeli settlement
An Israeli settlement is a Jewish civilian community built on land that was captured by Israel from Jordan, Egypt, and Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and is considered occupied territory by the international community. Such settlements currently exist in the West Bank...
. I consider it a political mistake and would like to make it clear in this context that we must have the right to criticize the policy of the State of Israel – just as we are allowed to criticize any sovereign country – without it being considered anti-Semitism. After all, the National Front has always been Zionistic
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
and always defended Israel's right to exist".
In a statement about the death of Osama bin Laden
Death of Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden, then head of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, was killed in Pakistan on May 2, 2011, shortly after 1 a.m. local time by a United States special forces military unit....
, she welcomed his "salutary elimination" and claimed that his execution was "a right and appropriate answer to the death of the victims in the 2011 Marrakech bombing
2011 Marrakech bombing
The 2011 Marrakech bombing killed 17 people in the city of Marrakech, Morocco on 28 April 2011. The blast, from a bomb left in a bag, destroyed the Argana cafe in Djemaa el-Fna square, a popular tourist spot. At least 20 people were injured. Most of the dead were tourists.-Casualties:17 people were...
".
She regularly claims that France should promptly withdraw its troops
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...
from Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
.
Africa
Marine Le Pen claims that "with the help or the protection of western major powers (including unfortunately France in front row), Africa became for the decolonizationDecolonization of Africa
The decolonization of Africa followed World War II as colonized peoples agitated for independence and colonial powers withdrew their administrators from Africa.-Background:...
a privileged ground of all the lobbies which maintain on its territory unacceptable, criminal and 'neo-colonialist' networks of corruption". She also claims that "whereas Africa struggles to find the ways of growth and thus future prosperity, whereas starvation
Starvation
Starvation is a severe deficiency in caloric energy, nutrient and vitamin intake. It is the most extreme form of malnutrition. In humans, prolonged starvation can cause permanent organ damage and eventually, death...
or disease decimate millions of innocent souls, whereas skillfully maintained conflicts discourage the most dynamic and talented African elites, French-African relations are marred by an unforgivable misdemeanour: corruption". She advocates to "have a dialogue with Africa in line with our common history and our mutual interests" and "implement a real partnership which enables a harmonious development of the African continent". In her view, "the only reasonable way lies in a close relationship between the European and African continents, because the development of the African continent will break the migratory stranglehold which threats us and enable the two continents to live their own identities in peace, security and prosperity".
She claimed that only diplomacy, negotiation
Negotiation
Negotiation is a dialogue between two or more people or parties, intended to reach an understanding, resolve point of difference, or gain advantage in outcome of dialogue, to produce an agreement upon courses of action, to bargain for individual or collective advantage, to craft outcomes to satisfy...
and consultation were able to settle the tangle of the 2010–2011 Ivorian crisis
2010–2011 Ivorian crisis
The 2010–11 Ivorian crisis was a political crisis in Côte d'Ivoire which began after Laurent Gbagbo, the President of Côte d'Ivoire since 2000, was proclaimed the winner of the Ivorian election of 2010, the first election in the country in 10 years...
, which had begun in the aftermath of the run-off of the 2010 presidential election, when both Laurent Gbagbo
Laurent Gbagbo
Laurent Koudou Gbagbo served as the fourth President of Côte d'Ivoire from 2000 until his arrest in April 2011. A historian by profession, he is also an amateur chemist and physicist....
and Alassane Ouattara
Alassane Ouattara
Alassane Dramane Ouattara is an Ivorian politician who has been President of Côte d'Ivoire since 2011. An economist by profession, Ouattara worked for the International Monetary Fund and the Central Bank of West African States , and he was the Prime Minister of Côte d'Ivoire from November 1990 to...
have claimed victory and taken the presidential oath of office
Oath of office
An oath of office is an oath or affirmation a person takes before undertaking the duties of an office, usually a position in government or within a religious body, although such oaths are sometimes required of officers of other organizations...
.
Interviewed in January 2011 by the monthly panafrican magazine Première Ligne, she denounced the interference of France and the international community
International community
The international community is a term used in international relations to refer to all peoples, cultures and governments of the world or to a group of them. The term is used to imply the existence of common duties and obligations between them...
in internal politics of Côte d'Ivoire
Côte d'Ivoire
The Republic of Côte d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast is a country in West Africa. It has an area of , and borders the countries Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; its southern boundary is along the Gulf of Guinea. The country's population was 15,366,672 in 1998 and was estimated to be...
and criticized Nicolas Sarkozy's support for Alassane Ouattara as a "political mistake". Denouncing a "double standards diplomacy", she claimed that the Economic Community of West African States
Economic Community of West African States
The Economic Community of West African States is a regional group of fifteen West African countries. Founded on 28 May 1975, with the signing of the Treaty of Lagos, its mission is to promote economic integration across the region....
(ECOWAS) is not legitimate to decide a military intervention in Côte d'Ivoire since it had not intervened in Niger
Niger
Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
after the coup d'état
2010 Nigerien coup d'état
A coup d'état occurred in Niger on 18 February 2010. Soldiers attacked the presidential palace in Niamey under weapons fire at midday and captured President Mamadou Tandja, who was chairing a government meeting at the time...
led by Salou Djibo
Salou Djibo
Lieutenant General Salou Djibo is a Nigerien military officer. Following the military coup of 18 February 2010, he became head of the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy and thus de facto leader of Niger....
on 18 February 2010.
In parliamentary questions addressed to the European Commission, she denounced the violation of the article 5 of the fourth complementary agreement to Ouagadougou Political Agreement, which had planned the completion of disarmament and reunification of Côte d'Ivoire before the organization of elections.
On 12 September 2011, she strongly criticised that the Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
n president Paul Kagame
Paul Kagame
Paul Kagame is the sixth and current President of the Republic of Rwanda. He rose to prominence as the leader of the Rwandan Patriotic Front , whose victory over the incumbent government in July 1994 effectively ended the Rwandan genocide...
be received by Nicolas Sarkozy. She claimed that "welcoming Kagame whose regime is accused in a United Nations report of 'crimes against humanity' against civilian populations
Second Congo War
The Second Congo War, also known as Coltan War and the Great War of Africa, began in August 1998 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo , and officially ended in July 2003 when the Transitional Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo took power; however, hostilities continue to this...
in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sarkozy once more demonstrated his contempt for law and justice". She also claimed, that "accepting to receive Kagame in Paris, he sullied the reputation of the French army outrageously accused by Kigali of having taken part in the Rwandan Genocide
Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
.
2012 presidential election
Marine Le Pen will run for the 2012 French presidential election. On 16 May 2011, her presidential candidacy was unanimously validated by the FN Executive Committee.
On 10 and 11 September 2011, her political comeback in Nice prefigured the launching of her presidential campaign. During a press conference on 6 October 2011, she officially unveiled the line-up of her presidential campaign team. On 19 November 2011, she presented in Paris the main thematic issues of her presidential project: sovereign people and democracy, Europe, reindustrialization and strong state, family and education, immigration and assimilation versus communitarianism, geopolitics and international politics.
North-West France in 2009
In the 2009 election, Marine Le Pen led the FN list in the North-West France's constituency.Attaining the best result among the seven FN European lists, her list polled 10.18% (253,009 votes) and only won one of the ten seats of MEP.
Her list achieved its highest regional result in Picardy (12.57%, 63,624 votes), its highest departmental result in Aisne
Aisne
Aisne is a department in the northern part of France named after the Aisne River.- History :Aisne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Île-de-France, Picardie, and Champagne.Most of the old...
(13.40%, 19,125 votes), its highest municipal results in Pas-de-Calais : Hénin-Beaumont (27.92%, 1,799 votes), Courcelles-lès-Lens
Courcelles-lès-Lens
Courcelles-lès-Lens is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:An ex-coalmining commune, now a light industrial and farming town, situated some east of Lens, on the D160 road, sandwiched by the N43 and the A21 autoroute...
(26.57%), Noyelles-Godault
Noyelles-Godault
Noyelles-Godault is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:Noyelles-Godault is a former coalmining town, nowadays a light industrial and farming town, east of Lens, at the junction of the A21 autoroute and A1 autoroute.-Population:-Places of...
(24.72%). Her list also polled over 10% in Nord-Pas-de-Calais (10.90%, 115,350 votes) and in four other departments : Pas-de-Calais (12.88%, 52,671 votes), Oise
Oise
Oise is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise.-History:Oise is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
(12.46%, 24,997 votes), Somme
Somme
Somme is a department of France, located in the north of the country and named after the Somme river. It is part of the Picardy region of France....
(11.99%, 19,502 votes), Eure
Eure
Eure is a department in the north of France named after the river Eure.- History :Eure is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...
(10.06%, 15,793 votes).
Île-de-France in 2004
In the 2004 election, she led the FN list in the Île-de-France's constituency. Her list polled 8.58% (234,893 votes) and only won one of the fourteen seats of MEP.Hénin-Beaumont in 2007
In the 2007 election, Marine Le Pen and her substitute Steeve Briois, who emphasise the importance of local politics, represented the FN at Hénin-Beaumont in the Pas-de-Calais' 14th constituencyPas-de-Calais' 14th constituency
The 14th constituency of the Pas-de-Calais is a French legislative constituency in the Pas-de-Calais département.-2007: -Sources:* Official results of French elections from 1998:...
.
Located in the former coal mining area, this constituency is characterized by a higher level of unemployment than the national average, a significant number of citizens in recipient of welfare such as the Revenu minimum d'insertion
Revenu minimum d'insertion
The Revenu minimum d'insertion is a French form of social welfare. It is aimed at people without any income who are of working age but do not have any other rights to unemployment benefits...
(RMI) and the closure of important factories like Metaleurop North with the loss of 870 jobs. A few months previously, Steeve Briois had asked her to contest this constituency, one of the socialist strongholds in northern France. Explaining the choice of this area, she declared that the constituency was symbolic, with unemployment, offshoring and insecurity representing the major problems of France. Asserting his disappointment with the incumbent socialist MP Albert Facon
Albert Facon
Albert Facon is a member of the National Assembly of France. He represents the Pas-de-Calais department, and is a member of the Socialiste, radical, citoyen et divers gauche.-References:...
, Daniel Janssens, who had been a socialist activist for thirty years and a first deputy mayor of Leforest
Leforest
Leforest is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:Leforest is situated some east of Lens, at the junction of the D161 and the D120 roads.-Population:-References:* -External links:* * *...
for 24 years, led her support committee during the electoral campaign.
Among the fourteen candidates running in the first round, she came second with 24.47% (10,593 votes) whereas Facon came top with 28.24% (12,221 votes). In order to take part in the run-off, a parliamentary candidate must cross the minimal threshold of 12.50% of the registered voters. Throughout France, she thus was the only FN candidate able to compete in a run-off. Between the first round and the run-off, she received the support of historic figures of Gaullism
Gaullism
Gaullism is a French political ideology based on the thought and action of Resistance leader then president Charles de Gaulle.-Foreign policy:...
like Alain Griotteray, Michel Caldagués and the souverainiste
Souverainism
Souverainism , or sovereigntism is a doctrine which supports acquiring or preserving political independence of a nation or a region...
MEP Paul-Marie Coûteaux
Paul-Marie Coûteaux
Paul-Marie Coûteaux is the son of André Couteaux and a French politician, writer, and former Member of the European Parliament for Ile-de-France with the Mouvement pour la France, Member of the Bureau of the Independence and Democracy and sits on the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign...
.
In the run-off, she achieved 41.65% (17,107 votes) winning 17.18% and 6,514 votes within a week whereas Albert Facon was re-elected as MP with 58.35% (23,965 votes). She attained her highest results in three municipalities: Courcelles-lès-Lens
Courcelles-lès-Lens
Courcelles-lès-Lens is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:An ex-coalmining commune, now a light industrial and farming town, situated some east of Lens, on the D160 road, sandwiched by the N43 and the A21 autoroute...
(48.71%), Noyelles-Godault
Noyelles-Godault
Noyelles-Godault is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:Noyelles-Godault is a former coalmining town, nowadays a light industrial and farming town, east of Lens, at the junction of the A21 autoroute and A1 autoroute.-Population:-Places of...
(47.85%), Hénin-Beaumont (44.54%, 4,729 votes). Her results in the first round and the run-off are higher than those of Steeve Briois in 2002 (20.06%, 8,768 votes; 32.08%, 12,129 votes) whereas Facon lost 9.57% and 1,718 votes within five years (67.92%, 25,683 votes).
According to political analysts, she confirmed her political presence in this economically deprived area achieving a very high percentage of votes thanks to economic and social matters like deindustrialization, unemployment and a feeling of abandonment rather than issues such as immigration and insecurity.
Lens in 2002
In the 2002 election, she was a candidate at LensLens, Pas-de-Calais
Lens is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. It is one of France's large Picarde cities along with Lille, Valenciennes, Amiens, Roubaix, Tourcoing, Arras, and Douai.-Metropolitan area:...
in the Pas-de-Calais' 13th constituency
Pas-de-Calais' 13th constituency
The 13th constituency of the Pas-de-Calais is a French legislative constituency in the Pas-de-Calais département.-2007: -Sources:* Official results of French elections from 1998:...
. There are many workers and unemployed people in this economically deprived constituency, one of the socialist strongholds in northern France.
She polled 24.24% (10,228 votes) in the first round and achieved 32.30% (12,266 votes) in the run-off whereas her socialist challenger Jean-Claude Bois polled 38.20% (16,120 votes) in the first round and was re-elected as MP with 67.70% (27,510 votes) in the run-off.
Paris in 1993
At the age of 24, she was for the first time a parliamentary candidate in the Paris' 16th constituency (17th arrondissement of Paris). Whereas Bernard PonsBernard Pons
Bernard Pons was a French politician and medical doctor who was a member of the Union of Democrats for the Republic from 1971 to 1976 and a member of the Rally for the Republic party thereafter...
was re-elected as MP with 63.14% (22,545 votes) in the first round, she arrived in third position with 11.10% (3,963 votes) behind the socialist candidate (11.85%, 4,233 votes).
Nord-Pas-de-Calais in 2010
In the 2010 elections, Marine Le Pen led the FN regional list in Nord-Pas-de-Calais and the departmental list in Pas-de-Calais whereas Steeve Briois figured in second position. Largely spread during the electoral campaign, her regional programme included several topics about social, economic, political and cultural issues.In the first round, her list polled 18.31% (224.871 votes) and arrived in third position in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. In Pas-de-Calais, her list polled 19.81% (96,556 votes) overtaking the one of the UMP (15.91%, 77,550 votes) and largely came top in Hénin-Beaumont (39.08%, 2,949 votes). Whereas Jean-Marie Le Pen's FN list attained 20.30% (296,283 votes) in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur or PACA is one of the 27 regions of France.It is made up of:* the former French province of Provence* the former papal territory of Avignon, known as Comtat Venaissin...
, she nationally achieved the second highest result among the FN regional lists. In Pas-de-Calais, her result was higher in percentage than the one of Jean-Marie Le Pen in the first round of the 2002 presidential election (18.41%, 135,330 votes). In order to take part in the run-off, a regional list must cross the minimal threshold of 10% of the valid votes.
In the run-off, her list polled 22.20% (301,190 votes) and arrived in third position in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. Eighteen FN councillors were elected among the 113 of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais' regional council. Whereas Jean-Marie Le Pen's list attained 22.87% (387,374 votes) with 21 councillors elected, she nationally achieved the second highest result among the FN regional lists. In Pas-de-Calais, her list polled 24.37% (130,720 votes) overtaking the one of the UMP (22.63%, 121,365 votes) and achieved its highest municipal results in Hénin-Beaumont (44.23%, 3,829 votes) and Courcelles-lès-Lens (40.60%). Her list nationally realized the second highest departmental FN result behind Vaucluse
Vaucluse
The Vaucluse is a department in the southeast of France, named after the famous spring, the Fontaine-de-Vaucluse.- History :Vaucluse was created on 12 August 1793 out of parts of the departments of Bouches-du-Rhône, Drôme, and Basses-Alpes...
(26.54%). Her regional result and the one in Pas-de-Calais were higher in percentage than those of Jean-Marie Le Pen in the run-off of the 2002 presidential election (21.89%, 445,357 votes; 22.17%, 170,967 votes).
Thanks to her political success, she confirmed her regional presence and reinforced her internal position within the FN. As a member of the standing committee
Standing Committee
In the United States Congress, standing committees are permanent legislative panels established by the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate rules. . Because they have legislative jurisdiction, standing committees consider bills and issues and recommend measures for...
and a president of the regional group (Front National/Gathering for the Nord-Pas-de-Calais), she led a resolute opposition facing the left-wing regional executive managed by Daniel Percheron.
Île-de-France in 2004
In the 2004 elections, she led the FN regional list in Île-de-France and the departmental list in Hauts-de-Seine.Her list polled 12.26% (448,983 votes) in the first round and achieved 10.11% (395,565 votes) with fifteen councillors elected in the run-off.
She exercised the leadership of her regional group for five years and left it in February 2009 since she preferred to devote her energy to the European election campaign in the North-West France's constituency. A member of the standing committee, she led a strong opposition facing the left-wing regional executive managed by Jean-Paul Huchon
Jean-Paul Huchon
Jean-Paul Huchon is a civil administrator and French politician. Mayor of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine from 1994 to 2001, he is the President of the regional council for Île-de-France since 1998.- Biography :...
.
Nord-Pas-de-Calais in 1998
In the 1998 elections, she figured on the FN list in Nord-Pas-de-Calais and was a regional councillor for six years (1998–2004).Municipal elections
Hénin-Beaumont in 2008
Since 2001, Gérard Dalongeville has been the mayor of Hénin-Beaumont, an economically deprived town in the former coal mining area.A municipal councillor since 1995, Steeve Briois led the FN list while Marine Le Pen was in second position. The FN list came second with 28.53% (3,650 votes) in the first round and achieved 28.83% (3,630 votes) with five councillors elected in the run-off. In order to take part in the run-off, a municipal list must cross the minimal threshold of 10% of the votes cast.
Despite their electoral failure, Steeve Briois and Marine Le Pen led a sharp opposition against the re-elected mayor Gérard Dalongeville, his first vice-mayor Marie-Noëlle Lienemann
Marie-Noëlle Lienemann
Marie-Noëlle Lienemann is a French politician and Member of the European Parliament for the North West of France. She is a member of the Socialist Party, part of the Party of European Socialists. She studied at the École Normale Supérieure de Cachan .-References:...
and their left-wing team.
2009 Hénin-Beaumont by-election
A municipal by-election was held in Hénin-Beaumont on 28 June and 5 July 2009. Like in 2008, Steeve Briois was the FN top candidate whereas she figured in second position.The FN list largely came top with 39.33% (4,485 votes) in the first round and achieved 47.62% (5,504 votes) with eight councillors elected in the run-off. Despite a weekly increase of 1,019 votes, the FN again failed its attempt to win the municipality.
Steeve Briois, Marine Le Pen and the six other FN councillors led the sole political opposition against the new mayor Daniel Duquenne and his successor Eugène Binaisse.
On 24 February 2011, she resigned as a municipal councillor because of the law on the accumulation of mandates ("cumul des mandats
Cumul des mandats
The cumul des mandats , is a political practice that has evidenced itself in modern French politics. It consists of holding several political offices at multiple levels of government...
"). In a letter entitled "I stay in Hénin-Beaumont !", she explained that her political action is more efficient for the city at regional and European levels than in the municipal council.
Political mandates
Local mandates
- Regional councillor of Nord-Pas-de-Calais : (15 March 1998 – 28 March 2004); since 26 March 2010: member of the standing committee, leader of the FN group.
- Regional councillor of Île-de-France (28 March 2004 – 21 March 2010) : member of the standing committee, leader of the FN group until February 2009.
- Municipal councillor of Hénin-Beaumont (23 March 2008 – 24 February 2011).
European mandates
Member of the European Parliament in the Île-de-France constituency (20 July 2004 – 13 July 2009) : Non-Inscrits (20 July 2004–14 January 2007/14 November 2007–13 July 2009) ; Identity, Tradition, SovereigntyIdentity, Tradition, Sovereignty
thumb|right|Group logoIdentity, Tradition, Sovereignty was a political group in the European Parliament composed of 23 members from European parties variously described as right-wing and nationalist...
(15 January 2007 – 13 November 2007).
- Member : Committee on Culture and EducationCommittee on Culture and EducationThe Committee on Culture and Education is a committee of the European Parliament.- Responsibilities of the Committee :This committee has focused on the well-being of all members of the human race and the increased opportunities for education in all countries of the European Union...
(21 July 2004–14 January 2007/15 January 2007–30 January 2007), Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home AffairsCommittee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home AffairsThe Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs is a standing committee of the European Parliament.-External links:*...
(31 January 2007 – 13 July 2009), Delegation for relations with Israel (15 September 2004–13 March 2007/14 March 2007–13 July 2009) - Substitute : Committee on Internal Market and Consumer ProtectionCommittee on Internal Market and Consumer ProtectionThe Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection is a committee of the European Parliament.- Work of the committee :The committee is responsible for:...
(21 July 2004–14 January 2007/31 January 2007–13 July 2009), Delegation for relations with Australia and New Zealand (15 March 2007 – 13 July 2009)
Member of the European Parliament in the North-West France constituency : Non-Inscrits (since 14 July 2009)
- Member : Committee on Employment and Social AffairsCommittee on Employment and Social AffairsThe Committee on Employment and Social Affairs is a committee of the European Parliament.- Chairman :2009 - : -External links:*...
(since 16 July 2009), Delegation to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary AssemblyACP-EU Joint Parliamentary AssemblyThe ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly was created to bring together the elected representatives of the European Union and the elected representatives of the African, Caribbean and Pacific states that have signed the Cotonou Agreement.Since the entry into force of the Treaty on European Union...
(since 16 September 2009) - Substitute : Committee on International TradeCommittee on International TradeThe Committee on International Trade INTA is a committee of the European Parliament.-External links:*...
(since 16 July 2009), Delegation for relations with Canada (16 September 2009 – 14 November 2010)
Autobiography
- À contre flots, Jacques Grancher, 2006 ISBN 2733909576
Welcome to a ruthless world (extract from À contre-flots chapter one, p. 9 to p. 22).