Marine Le Pen enters her vehicle after holding a press conference in Vernon, Normandy. /
The far-right believes that each partner should have more autonomy with respect to the Brussels rules in a message that seeks to obtain votes among the followers of Melinchón and the ‘yellow vests’
Marine Le Pen, a far-right candidate for the French presidential elections, assured this Tuesday that she does not want to leave the European Union, although she does intend to change the rules of the community club because she considers that its operation is “undemocratic” and goes against the interest of peoples and their economies. “No, I don’t have a hidden project: everything I want to do, I say,” said the leader of National Regroupment, who will face the outgoing president, Emmanuel Macron, in the second round on the 24th.
“A large majority do not want a European Union as it exists today, totally undemocratic, advancing through threats and blackmail, and carrying out policies that go against the interest of the people and our economies,” he explained. this Tuesday Le Pen in an interview granted to France Inter. On public radio he criticized, for example, that the EU continues to maintain the ‘From farm to fork’ strategy, which foresees a decline in agricultural production on the verge of a food and migration crisis as a result of the war in Ukraine.
The far-right was in favor of “collaboration” between member states, as has been done in the past, for example, with the Airbus or Arianespace projects. Le Pen considered that Brussels cannot impose its decisions on the partners “against the will of the people.”
YOUR PROPOSALS:
Presidential term.
Seven years, without the possibility of repeating to prevent the president from being “on a permanent campaign.”constitutional change
to establish the citizen initiative referendum.Electoral system.
Introduction of proportionality, following the example of other European countries such as Spain.
In the 2017 presidential elections, Le Pen defended leaving the European Union “to return France its national sovereignty.” He also advocated then for leaving the ‘Schengen area’ of free movement of people, and for leaving the euro and returning to the national currency, the franc. But, in these elections, aware of how unpopular these proposals are among the majority of French people, for her they are no longer a priority.
The National Regrouping candidate also explained this Tuesday, in an evening press conference, that if she is elected on the 24th she will carry out a series of reforms. For example, she wants to restore the seven-year presidential term and that it be non-renewable to prevent the head of state from being “on a permanent campaign.” After the 2000 reform, the position lasts for five years, renewable once consecutively.
The mystery of the prime minister
Le Pen is aware that if she wants to win she needs to expand her electorate, which is why she winked on Tuesday at ‘the yellow vests’, the popular movement that put Macron’s presidency in check with its protests, and the voters of the far-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
The candidate advocated changing the Constitution and establishing the citizen initiative referendum. She also wants to change the electoral system to introduce proportionality, following the example of other European countries, among which she cited Spain. These two proposals are also defended by Mélenchon and the ‘yellow vests’.
Le Pen did not want to anticipate who will be her prime minister if she is president. But she made it clear that neither her niece, Marion Maréchal, nor the ultra candidate Éric Zemmour would be part of that hypothetical government. Maréchal, a muse of the more traditionalist extreme right, betrayed her aunt and joined Zemmour’s campaign in the first round. Zemmour obtained 7.07% of the vote, compared to 23.15% for Le Pen.
Sarkozy and Jospin will vote for Macron in the second round
Support from the right and the left for Emmanuel Macron, who is running for re-election after five years in the Elysée Palace. Former Conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy and former Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin announced Tuesday that they will vote for Macron in the second round.
“I will vote for Macron because I think he has the necessary experience in the face of a serious international crisis, more complex than ever, because his economic project places the value of work at the center of all his priorities, because his European commitment is clear and unambiguous”, Sarkozy announced, who despite his problems with the law remains an influential figure on the French right.
The former president did not publicly support Valérie Pécresse, his party’s candidate for the elections. Pécresse achieved only 4.78% of the vote in the first round and was eliminated.