Far Right Leader Marine Le Pen Fails in Legislative Elections Bid
By Morocco World News
New York, June 17, 2012
The leader of the French Far-right party, Marine Le Pen, failed to secure a seat in the French Parliament, Assmblee National, during the second round of legislative elections held in France on Sunday.
Winner announced in the first instance by the RTBF, Marine Le Pen was finally beaten in the second round in Henin-Beaumont by the Socialist Party candidate Philippe Kemel.
During the electoral campaign, Le Pen has promised to “explode the monopoly of the two (mainstream) parties” in the legislative elections.
The National Front did not win a parliamentary seat since 1986.
A staunch opponent of immigration, Marine Le Pen, ranked in third during the first round of Presidential elections held last April, as she obtained 18% of votes.
In an interview on TV channel France 5 last December, Marine Le Pen said that, if elected President, she would advocate a new criterion for obtaining French citizenship.
By her plan, French citizens of foreign origin would be subjected to a point-based criterion inspired from the point scheme currently implemented for driving records.
Those who become French after having lived in the country for a long period or for having a French spouse, could lose their citizenship in they not respect France’s law, especially, the sacro-saint principle of laicism.
“Within 10 years one can lose French nationality if he commits crimes or offenses,” or if he does not aide by the rule of the Republic, she was quoted in the daily newspaper Le Parisien as saying.
The points that a French citizen of foreign origin loses are irrecoverable, which means that if someone reaches the threshold of points provided for in the citizenship, he or she loses his/ her citizenship. “One can’t recover one’s points,” she added.
Marine Le Pen, intended to put an end to family reunifications and automatic citizenship, as well to give priority to “nationals” from France in terms of employment opportunities.
Le Pen did not address the legal, constitutional or human rights aspects of the proposed idea—all issues that are likely to make actual implementation of such a plan an uphill battle.
