French far-right tipped to triumph in post-attacks regional vote
Source: news.yahoo.com
France's far-right National Front (FN) appears to be on course for an historic breakthrough in regional elections this weekend, with the country still traumatised by last month's Paris terror attacks.
The party's leader Marine Le Pen looks set to take the former Socialist heartland in the economically depressed northern region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie, while her 25-year-old niece Marion Marechal-Le Pen is ahead in the race for the vast southeastern region that includes the French Riviera.
The anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant FN -- which has never before controlled a region -- has been climbing in the polls since 130 people were killed by jihadist gunmen and bombers in Paris on November 13.
With the FN's support soaring to between 27 and 30 percent across the country, the party is also in a close fight with the traditional right for the northwestern region of Normandy and Burgundy and Franche-Comte in the east.
"Several months ago I said we could win four or five regions, and so it is," Marine Le Pen told AFP with a week to go before the first round of voting on Sunday.
This week, two local newspapers in the north have taken the unusual step of running attacks on Le Pen and her party, questioning their competence to rule.
Source: news.yahoo.com
