Now, Le Pen Has Hard Time Even Attracting Protesters
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Le Pen Loses Luster, Signaling Far Right’s Retreat in France, and Maybe Beyond
By Adam Nossiter of The New York Times
June 16, 2017SOISSONS, France — Just this spring, Marine Le Pen’s presidential campaign drew vast crowds who enthusiastically embraced her National Front’s nationalist, anti-immigrant vision of France. This week in Soissons however, Ms. Le Pen was greeted by only a few dozen somber National Front activists in a drab meeting hall. Even hecklers didn’t bother: Just a handful of weak-voiced protesters quickly dispersed. Ms. Le Pen’s party, crushed by Emmanuel Macron’s 66% in the presidential runoff in May, fared dismally in last Sunday’s legislative elections. It is a head-spinning turnabout that reflects, at least for now, the fizzling of Ms. Le Pen’s fortunes in France.
The National Front’s retreat also adds to the impression that far-right populism is losing its appeal more broadly. That retrenchment has been aided by the steady sagging of the Trump administration under an air of scandal, and the belated British realization that pulling out of the European Union may not be as fast, easy and excellent as voters were led to believe. Ms. Le Pen once dreamed of leading the principal opposition party to Mr. Macron and of marshaling a hundred or more parliamentary deputies to push the Front’s harsh nationalist agenda. Now she could well end up as the party’s only member of the National Assembly.
It is a lonely place to be, and it left the once-buoyant Ms. Le Pen, still looking exhausted from the sleepless presidential campaign, defensive and denouncing a “gigantic scandal for democracy” to reporters in Soissons this week. But if the champion of France’s populist far right is now contemplating years of political marginalization, she has largely herself to blame, in the eyes of analysts as well as many in her own party. They say she is paying a bitter price for an incoherent message badly delivered.
Now her party faces a new round of painful existential questioning over what it can do to revive itself. Support for the far right has close to evaporated, at least at the polls: From an already disappointing 34% in the May 7 presidential vote, it dropped to barely over 13% in last Sunday’s first-round parliamentary elections. The National Front has been blasted into insignificance with only 120 Front candidates making it to the second round of voting for the 577-seat chamber.
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Projections for the National Assembly makeup, post-round 2. Notice on both charts the difference in size between left-oriented vs right-oriented, if the ruling coalition were subtracted.
COALITIONS
Left/Right: REM-MoDem Ruling coalition (colored blue in the 1st chart)
Right: LR-UDI-DVD
Far-Right: FN-EXD
Left: PS-DVG-RDG-EELV
Far-Left: PCI-LFI
COALITIONS
Left/Right: REM-MoDem Ruling coalition
Right: LR-UDI-DVD
Far-Right: FN-EXD
Left: PRG-EELV-DVG
Far-Left: FI-PCF -
The final vote count in the National Assembly fell as predicted:
FN-EXD Far-Right: 9 seats
LR-UDI-DVD Right: 136 seats
REM-MoDem Centre: 350 seats
PS-DVG-PRG Left: 50 seats
PCI-LFI Far-Left: 27 seats -
Le Pen Loses Luster, Signaling Far Right’s Retreat in France, and Maybe Beyond
By Adam Nossiter of The New York Times
June 16, 2017SOISSONS, France — Just this spring, Marine Le Pen’s presidential campaign drew vast crowds who enthusiastically embraced her National Front’s nationalist, anti-immigrant vision of France. This week in Soissons however, Ms. Le Pen was greeted by only a few dozen somber National Front activists in a drab meeting hall. Even hecklers didn’t bother: Just a handful of weak-voiced protesters quickly dispersed. Ms. Le Pen’s party, crushed by Emmanuel Macron’s 66% in the presidential runoff in May, fared dismally in last Sunday’s legislative elections. It is a head-spinning turnabout that reflects, at least for now, the fizzling of Ms. Le Pen’s fortunes in France.
The National Front’s retreat also adds to the impression that far-right populism is losing its appeal more broadly. That retrenchment has been aided by the steady sagging of the Trump administration under an air of scandal, and the belated British realization that pulling out of the European Union may not be as fast, easy and excellent as voters were led to believe. Ms. Le Pen once dreamed of leading the principal opposition party to Mr. Macron and of marshaling a hundred or more parliamentary deputies to push the Front’s harsh nationalist agenda. Now she could well end up as the party’s only member of the National Assembly.
It is a lonely place to be, and it left the once-buoyant Ms. Le Pen, still looking exhausted from the sleepless presidential campaign, defensive and denouncing a “gigantic scandal for democracy” to reporters in Soissons this week. But if the champion of France’s populist far right is now contemplating years of political marginalization, she has largely herself to blame, in the eyes of analysts as well as many in her own party. They say she is paying a bitter price for an incoherent message badly delivered.
Now her party faces a new round of painful existential questioning over what it can do to revive itself. Support for the far right has close to evaporated, at least at the polls: From an already disappointing 34% in the May 7 presidential vote, it dropped to barely over 13% in last Sunday’s first-round parliamentary elections. The National Front has been blasted into insignificance with only 120 Front candidates making it to the second round of voting for the 577-seat chamber.
I don't know much about France.. but I get the impression that their government is ALWAYS in turmoil, and the country is unstable. No matter who is in power, the population hates them.
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okay FYI the number of siege is not related to the actual number of votes.
Instance PC got 210 000 votes yet they have 10 sieges .
FN has 13.2 % of votes.
The president party had 32 % ( but remember only 48% of people voted that means about only 16 % of french approve this government). As you can see from 32% to 14% you go from 400 sieges to 6 … yep thats how it works..
and worse far left got 13-14% but managed to get about 20 sieges. This is because of political arrangement they make locally.all in all the voting numbers are :
Center ( president ) : 32.32%
Right :21.56%
far right: 13.20%
Left : 9.51%
far left: 13.74%So counting sieges and saying " the far right retreat in France" is just not understanding at all how it works.
its all explained here : http://www.lci.fr/elections/resultats-elections-legislatives-2017-1-3-des-voix-pour-rem-mais-plus-de-2-3-des-deputes-pourquoi-le-pourcentage-des-voix-n-egale-pas-le-pourcentage-de-sieges-lr-udi-fn-ps-fi-2055135.html
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Center ( president ) : 32.32%
Right :21.56%
far right: 13.20%
Left : 9.51%
far left: 13.74%This adds up to only 90.33%. You and I both left out 9.67% from our figures. Irregardless of that, I'd say just over 1/3 is still pretty impressive for REM, so new as they were to the French political landscape.
So counting sieges and saying " the far right retreat in France" is just not understanding at all how it works.
M. Macron's election victory can be interpreted as repudiation of the populist rhetoric that Mme. Le Pen and her father's party were infamous for. More like tristesse d'un insuccès than anything else.
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You and I both left out 9.67% from our figures.
I think these 9.67 are "Non inscrits." but these number changed as now there are 8 sieges for FN instead of 6 firstly announced.
