French elections: Polls put far-right National Front on top
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Version 0 of 1. PARIS — France’s far-right National Front won more support than any other party in the first round of regional elections Sunday, according to polling agency projections, in a boost for Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigration strategy and a blow to President François Hollande’s Socialists. The projections put National Front candidates on top so far in six of France’s 13 newly drawn regions. But Sunday’s voting was only a first round, and some mainstream voters may steer away from far-right candidates in the decisive Dec. 13 runoff. The elections took place in an unusually tense security climate about three weeks after deadly attacks on Paris — a climate expected to favor conservative and far-right candidates. It is the last election before France votes for president in 2017 and a gauge of the country’s political direction. Polling agencies Ifop, OpinionWay and Ipsos projected that the National Front won between 27 and 30 percent support nationwide. Former president Nicolas Sarkozy’s party, the Republicans, and its allies were projected to come in second place, at about 27 percent. The Socialists, who currently run nearly all of the country’s regions, are projected to come in a weak third place, with 22 percent to 24 percent. The polling projections estimated the percentage of votes for different parties, not the number of seats they are expected to win on France’s regional councils. The number of seats will be determined in next Sunday’s runoff, which pits the leading parties in each region against each other. The big question for the runoff is whether supporters of Republican, Socialist and smaller candidates will rally together to keep the National Front from winning control of any of the regions. The Paris attacks on Nov. 13 that killed at least 130 people and a Europe-wide migrant crisis this year have shaken up France’s political landscape. The Islamic State militant group has asserted responsibility for the attacks. The National Front is hoping that the election will consolidate political gains Le Pen has made in recent years — and strengthen the party’s legitimacy as she prepares to seek the presidency in 2017. The party has long been viewed as anti-Semitic and considered a pariah. The unpopular Hollande has seen his approval ratings jump since the Paris attacks as he intensified French airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Syria and Iraq and ordered a state of emergency at home. But his party has seen its electoral support shrivel as the government has failed to shrink its 10 percent joblessness rate or invigorate the economy. The arrival of hundreds of thousands of migrants in Europe and the exploits of the Islamic State have bolstered the discourse of the National Front. It denounces Europe’s open borders, what it calls the “migratory submersion” and what it claims is the corrupting influence of Islam on French civilization. Le Pen is campaigning to run the northern Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie region, which includes the port city of Calais, a flashpoint in Europe’s migrant drama. Polls suggest she could win. — Associated Press |