France's extreme-right, anti-European National Front movement has emerged as the largest single party in the first round of local elections held here on Sunday and continues to make inroads in European, local and potentially regional ballots in this country.
The National Front, led by tough and outspoken politician Marine Le Pen, alone snatched 25.72 percent of ballots in Sunday's vote, four points ahead of the nearest Conservative rival, the Union of the Right (UD), the Interior Ministry said in final results early Monday.
The UD is a component of the broader right-wing alliance, the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) led by Nicolas Sarkozy, and all together the UMP mosaic was the absolute winner on Sunday with over 32 percent of votes. But the shock created by the National Front progression is sending ripples through the political classes here, especially after its marked successes in municipal and European elections last year.
The second round of voting next Sunday will determine if the National Front has established serious inroads and there are run-offs in a number of local districts that will pit the FN against the UMP or the Socialists, who as the governing party only got 13.15 percent in votes in the first round. The left-wing alliance headed by the Socialist party did get just over 22 percent of ballots but the showing is weak.
Socialist leaders have called on their supporters to support Conservatives in the UMP in run-off races next Sunday against the National Front, but UMP leader and former President, Nicholas Sarkozy has not given reciprocal instructions for Conservative voters to support the Socialist party in battles against the FN in a week's time.
Instead, Sarkozy has adopted a "neither, nor" approach to the FN and Socialists in next week's votes, a position that has opened him up to criticism.