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The Declining Fortunes of the French National Front, 1993-1994
International Security Studies at Yale University
Historical Roots of Contemporary International and Regional Issues
Occasional Paper Series No. 3
January 1995
Do the political parties of the far-right pose a threat to democracy in Europe? This question has been raised increasingly since the collapse of the ideological division of communism versus capitalism that dominated political thinking during the Cold War. Fears of a resurgence of fascism in Europe have been fueled by the electoral successes of extremist parties of the right in a number of European democracies, including Italy, France, and Belgium. Most recently, the Freedom Party, led by Jörg Haider, won twenty- 3% of the vote in Austria's legislative elections on October 9, 1994, on a xenophobic platform. That gave the party 42 of 183 seats in the Austrian Parliament and a substantial voice in the political life of the nation. Observers fear that other extremist parties may escape from the political fringe in many European countries and pose a real threat to cooperation and unity among states on the continent with their nationalist agendas.
Nationalism is not a new phenomenon in France; it has existed in a modern form at least since the Revolution of 1789 permanently altered the political landscape of the nation. Its most recent incarnation is the National Front (Front National or EN), a political organization founded in 1972. The FN first became the target of a great deal of media attention in June of 1984 when it garnered 11% of the vote in elections for the European parliament. Since 1984, the National Front has been unable to substantially improve its proportion of the vote in any national election. Its greatest success was scored in the presidential election of 1988 when the Front's leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen, collected 14.4% of the vote. In the critical legislative election of March 1993 which restored the parties of the right to control in the National Assembly with a huge majority, the National Front gained only 12.4% of the suffrages expressed. Moreover, it failed to elect a single deputy in any district. The electoral results of the cantonal elections in March of 1994 and the European parliamentary elections of June confirmed a certain leveling of the National Front's support at 10 to 12%.
The apparent declining fortunes of the French National Front have led some commentators and analysts to reassess the importance of the organization on the future political life of France. Fears that frustrations with established moderate political parties would lead more of the French to support Le Pen have now ebbed. If current trends continue, it does seem that Le Pen will have little importance in the future of France. Nonetheless, it is the contention of this essay that the National Front remains important to those interested in international security affairs for a variety of reasons, and thus needs to be monitored closely.
First, the National Front continues to promote positions on issues which run counter to American interests as well as to those of the European Community. Jean-Marie Le Pen is a fervent opponent of strengthening any ties with Europe. Moreover, the National Front is strongly opposed to the principles of free trade and a global marketplace as embodied in the GATT agreement recently accepted by the United States Congress and President Clinton. The agenda of the Front is thus both anti-European and anti- American.
Secondly, although the National Front has scored only moderate successes at the polls, it has played an important part in recent years in influencing the political agenda of France, largely because of the personal charisma of Jean-Marie Le Pen. Le Pen has cleverly gauged the fears and insecurities of the French and amplified those concerns into political issues. The mainstream political parties of both the right and the left have then been forced to modify their own positions on issues. Several of Le Pen's political adversaries have stated that Le Pen raises the right questions, but he gives the wrong answers. 1 Nonetheless, the mainstream political parties of the right have accepted many of the Le Pen's extreme positions with only slight alteration to make them more palatable.
Thirdly, the political future of France remains very uncertain. The moderate right, which seemed so strong and unified after the legislative elections of 1993, now appears increasingly weakened by internal divisions as potential candidates for the presidential elections of 1995 jockey for position. Revelations of extensive political corruption have been leveled against all of the mainstream parties in France and have scandalized much of the French electorate already disgusted with politics as usual. Moreover, unemployment remains high as the economic recovery develops very slowly in France. Any one of these factors could provide for a resurgence of support for the National Front and give it the sort of success so recently enjoyed by the Austrian Freedom Party. A convergence of a number of them could benefit the FN even more.
The remainder of this paper will be divided into four sections. First, there will be a brief examination of the history and organization of the National Front. Secondly, the Ninth Party Congress of February 1994 will be analyzed. Thirdly, the results of the cantonal elections of March 1994 will be studied, and, finally, compared to those of the European parliamentary elections of June. An analysis of the issues raised in the campaigns for each of these elections and the results at the polls will be used to demonstrate that the FN remains an active player in French politics. The current decline of the National Front is not irreversible, and the party should not be dismissed categorically because of its recent failures.
THE NATIONAL FRONT: A DIVERSE ORGANIZATION
Although the National Front is usually referred to as a political party, the term "front" is indeed a more accurate way of describing the organization. Its leaders are drawn from many different segments of French society and include royalists, Catholic fundamentalists, and World War II collaborators. The diversity of the leadership translates into a variety of political and social agendas which appeal to different constituencies among the French electorate. Citizens who vote for National Front candidates are thus often drawn to the party for different reasons. The only constant in the organization since its founding has been the leadership of Jean-Marie Le Pen.
The National Front was founded in 1972 by an "avowedly fascist" organization, Ordre Nouveau, some of whose members are still part of the FN. 2 Le Pen became president of the National Front and has remained in power ever since with few challenges to his leadership. His use of a federalist structure has been critical in the establishment of the National Front as a political party of mass membership, and has helped to stifle the divisions that are common in organizations with a heavy ideological basis. 3 Many members and supporters of the National Front are also involved with other right-wing organizations, but such divided loyalties are not discouraged.
This diversity was especially apparent in the campaign platforms of FN candidates during the elections of 1994. Although a core set of positions on issues such as immigration and free trade were used by the majority of National Front candidates, the individual office-seekers staked out their own platforms on more local issues such as desertification and education. As a result, neither of the 1994 campaigns was particularly uniform.
The variety of people and ideas which now constitute the National Front is largely a function of the historical evolution of the party during the last twenty-two years. In strengthening the organization, Jean-Marie Le Pen was greatly aided by his ally Jean-Pierre Stirbois, an intelligent and methodical grass-roots campaigner. However, the FN remained a fringe group throughout the 1970's. It was only in the early 1980's that Catholic fundamentalist supporters of Mgr. Lefebvre and his campaign against the modemization of the Catholic Church began to look to the National Front for political allies. During 1981, the two participated in a number of joint activities, including what would become Le Pen's annual Joan of Arc day parade and rally in May 1981. 4 The event now cements the political and religious aspirations of many frontists each year.
In the early 1980's, the National Front also began to acquire supporters from the intellectual Nouvelle Droite, a group of academics, journalists, and others who favored influencing politics through the slow infiltration of their ideas by the media and in education. 5 An important element of the Nouvelle Droite was the Club de l'Horloge whose leaders included Yvan Blot and Bruno Megret who is now Le Pen's principal deputy and one of his possible successors. The inclusion of the Nouvelle Droite, the death of Stirbois in a car accident in 1988, and the growing membership of the FN fundamentally changed the organization as Le Pen tried to increase his respectability in the mid-1980's without substantially changing any of his extreme positions. Despite these challenges, the National Front survived and continued to score electoral successes after 1984 because the frontist structure allowed for the absorption of many different sets of ideas and individuals.
The diversity of the National Front may also be seen in the propaganda produced by the far right in France. The only official publication of the FN is La Lettre de Jean-Marie le Pen, a bi-monthly newsletter published by the party and mailed to its adherents. However, a number of other publications give explicit support to the National Front and its president while maintaining their editorial independence. The most notable of these is the weekly newspaper National Hebdo which appears in newsstands every Thursday. With a claimed circulation of 100,000, 6 the paper is probably the most widely read of the nationalist press. Managed by Jean-Claude Varanne and Martin Peltier since autumn 1992, the political sympathies of the National Hebdo are clearly with Le Pen although the FN does not have direct control of the publication.
The only daily newspaper with nationalist leanings is Présent, which appears in eight pages and is available only by subscription. With a circulation of only around 10,000, 7 its influence is much more limited than that of National Hebdo, which many French mistakenly believe to be an official publication of the National Front. As is the case with National Hebdo, Present supports Le Pen and the FN without being the party daily. A majority of its editors are frontists and express themselves regularly in its columns. Other publications which appear less regularly and which support the FN agenda include Rivarol, Enquete sur L'Histoire, Revue d'histoire non conformiste, and the humorous Pas d'Panique a' bord. Two of the more interesting magazines are Identite', a bi-monthly managed by Bruno Megret and supported by academics, and Monde et Vie, a very fundamentalist Catholic review. 8 The diversity of the FN press and the separation of official and unofficial propaganda is often perceived as a part of the frontist strategy. 9 It is successful for it appeals to many different branches of the extreme right.
The great diversity within the National Front leadership, press, and constituencies has also sometimes brought chaos. After the 1985 cantonal elections, Le Pen sought to reform the party in three principal ways. First, he wanted to establish a more formal national structure. Secondly, he wanted greater unity. Thirdly, he hoped to increase the FN's respectability without becoming simply another party within the political system. 10 The disagreements which ensued were largely subordinated by the continued dominance of Le Pen at the head of the frontist structure without any serious rivals.
There are also certain unifying elements which bring order to the federal structure of the National Front. First, the agenda of the FN is essentially a negative one. The Front is defined by what it rejects as being alien or foreign to France and its culture. These alien influences are presented as being a threat to France. This can come in the form of North African immigrants or American laissez-faire capitalism. Supporters of the National Front are mostly motivated by fear of such alien forces subverting the political, economic, or cultural independence of France. It is a philosophy of exclusion; "whereas patriotism was about attachment, and possibly integration, nationalism is about fear." 11 Moreover, those fears are fed by the propaganda of the nationalists and the apparent helplessness of parliamentary democracy to provide quick or definitive solutions to the problems creating apprehension.
It is thus not surprising that the National Front has found its greatest support among voters in those areas of France where the issues raised by the FN, such as immigration, have their strongest resonance. Xenophobic hatred is strongest in the south and Rhone valley areas where large numbers of immigrants have settled. The same is true of the working-class suburbs of Paris which have traditionally voted in large blocs for the French Communist Party (PCF). The deep recession from which France only began to emerge in early 1994 caused an unemployment rate of more than 10% in France, and made Le Pen's argument that immigrants were to blame especially attractive in the bleak suburbs of Paris. Finally, Le Pen's rejection of the European Community have made him popular in some farming and fishing areas of the West, including his native Brittany. Nonetheless, the West has remained the principal stronghold of the mainstream right.
The evolution of the National Front through the last twenty-two years has thus allowed it to retain its diversity while becoming a mass membership organization which has attracted more than ten% of the vote in national elections since 1984. Although the FN has not increased its membership or electoral success in the 1990s, it has continued to influence the political debates in France. The National Front Party Congress in February 1994, the cantonal elections in March, and the European parliamentary elections in June all illustrate the continuing importance of Jean-Marie Le Pen and his party.
THE NATIONAL FRONT PARTY CONGRESS
The National Front met for its Ninth Party Congress in 1972 on February 4, 1994, in Port-Many, a suburb of Paris, to prepare for the cantonal and European parliamentary elections of that year. The theme of the Congress was change, but few expected any substantial diversion in the path of the National Front. Indicative of this mood was the fact that Jean-Marie Le Pen was the only candidate for the presidency of the organization. However, polls at the time indicated a serious erosion of support for the FN, and it was hoped that the Congress would reinvigorate the party.
The National Front had begun to experience serious difficulties in mobilizing its supporters after the massive victory of the moderate right in the legislative elections of March 1993 gave the coalition of the Gaullist Rally for the Republic (RPR) and the Union for French Democracy (UDF) an overwhelming majority in the National Assembly. The FN, which had elected 35 deputies in the 1986 legislative elections based on a proportional system, failed to elect any in 1993 when a district system was once again used. However, the National Front did retain 12.4% of the vote in the 1993 election.
The enormous popularity enjoyed by the new conservative French government and its confident prime minister, Edouard Balladur, deprived the FN of its traditional opponent, the socialists. The tougher immigration and citizenship laws passed by the Assembly under the patronage of Charles Pasqua, Minister of the Interior, also usurped the FN's main issue of the last fifteen years. As a result, at the time of the party congress in February, 68% of National Front voters were unable to say whether their party opposed or supported the government of Mr. Balladur, and 47% did not know if they personally preferred opposition or support. 12 Moreover, a number of political figures on the right, including Philippe de Villiers, a deputy from the Vendée, and Philippe Séguin, had taken positions opposing deepening ties with the European Community, thus stealing Le Pen's dominance of that issue as well.
This evolution was corroborated by evidence showing a decline in support for the National Front between 1991 and February 1994. The percentage of people who voiced support for Le Pen decreased from 32% in October 1991 to 19% at the beginning of 1994. Likewise, the number of those in disagreement with the leader of the National Front increased from 65% to 79% in the same period. 13 These percentages translated to losses at the polls as well. An analysis of the seventy cantonal elections which occurred between March and December 1993 indicates that in these districts the FN lost six points in comparison to the legislative elections of March 1993. The National Front received only 8.5% of the vote in lieu of 14.2%. 14 Most interestingly, 73% of the French considered Le Pen and his movement to represent a danger to democracy in February 1994. Never before had such a large percentage of the French electorate indicated a need for vigilance against the National Front. 15
Despite these poor numbers for the FN, the Ninth Party Congress opened with great fanfare. Le Pen could recall that in October 1987, six months before the presidential election in which he received nearly 15% of the votes cast, his support was roughly at the same level as it was in February. Moreover, the number of National Front cadres had increased to at least 50,000 (the organization claims 80,000 members). 16 Le Pen has also been involved in political life for such a long period that he has come to distrust polls. The Congress was thus seen as a time of renewal, but not radical change.
Moreover, the continuing poor economic conditions in France in early 1994 seemed to give hope to an organization that thrives on crisis such as the National Front. The General Secretary of the party, Carl Lang, said, "In a period of full employment and political stability, we do not have our place." Bruno Megret, the party's second in command added that when "problems worsen, the political class deteriorates, the National Front develops." 17
The highlight of the Congress was Le Pen's speech on February 6, the sixtieth anniversary of the violent demonstrations organized by veterans and far-right leagues against the National Assembly in 1934. Le Pen sounded an alarmist tone at the congress in saying, "if you want to know what is going to happen here, one only has to look at the former Yugoslavia."He continued, "there is very well a battle to the death which is engaged between patriotism and internationalism." 18 Le Pen staked his future success that continued crisis would provoke a social explosion by the conjunction of "rising unemployment, immigration, taxation, drugs, and AIDS." 19 Le Pen was clearly attempting to set the tone for the elections of that spring, particularly those for the European parliament.
The other major event of the Congress was the election of the central committee and executive bureau; Le Pen made it clear that the succession of the presidency was not an issue. A number of internal divisions, especially along generational lines, became apparent during the weekend. However, Le Pen quelled them by re-affirming his support for the frontist strategy which would allow such divisions to co-exist peaceably within the party structure. Moreover, both the central committee and executive bureau were enlarged to dilute the influence of some groups within the party. The arrival of Bruno Gollnisch to the latter was seen as a check on the power of Bruno Megret. Golinisch, a university professor, is considered a counter-balance to Megret's technocratic leanings. The other new addition to the executive bureau was sixty-one year old Pierre Reveau, a founder of the movement and strong supporter of Le Pen. Nonetheless, the expansion of the central committee to 100 members benefited Megret's chances to someday succeed Le Pen. 20
Despite the theme of the latest National Front Congress, there was thus little substantive change in either the leadership or the direction of the party in February 1994. However, it was successful in re-energizing the faithful to face the slew of campaigns approaching in 1994 and the ultimate contest of the presidential election in 1995. Le Pen has always liked long campaigns, and this is no exception. By beginning to campaign early, Le Pen is able to introduce the issues on which he wants to focus to the public and force the other candidates and parties to address them. By concentrating on the issues of immigration, internationalism, protectionism, and unemployment, Le Pen was attempting to ensure that these remained topics of interest among the French upon which he could capitalize with his hard-line solutions. His first opportunity to test the strength of National Front positions on issues was the cantonal elections in March 1994.
THE CANTONAL ELECTIONS
Although Jean-Marie Le Pen and the National Front hoped to receive a substantial portion of the votes in the cantonal elections, they did not expect those votes to translate into many seats for their candidates in the regional councils. The system of voting used in the cantonals does not favor small parties, and incumbents are heavily favored.
In France, the canton is the territorial division between a commune and an arrondissement, and it serves as the voting district for elections to the conseil général, or departmental council. There are some 4,216 councilors sitting on 102 departmental assemblies throughout metropolitan France and its overseas departments, and around 2000 were eligible for re-election in March. Each individual councilor is elected by direct universal suffrage to represent a canton and must receive a majority of the votes cast to win the election. If no candidate wins a majority in the first round of voting, a run off is forced among the major candidates to determine the victor. This method of voting has existed since 1871, and it has never been changed. Moreover, the renewal of the councils is staggered over three years to allow for greater stability in membership.
It is difficult for candidates from small parties such as the National Front to win council seats using this voting system for at least two reasons. First, each councilor personally represents a piece of territory as well as a human constituency. Incumbent notables, or prominent citizens, are favored because of the high profile which they receive on issues that are very close to their constituents. The National Front has few candidates prominent enough to have such broad support in any one canton, and there were only two FN incumbents among the thousands of seats up for election in 1994. Secondly, the tacit agreement between leaders of the mainstream parties of the left and the right to oppose any FN candidate in the second round of voting further decreases the probability of a nationalist victory.
Faced with difficult odds, Jean-Marie Le Pen announced modest ambitions for the cantonals, predicting only to improve upon the percentage of the vote scored by the National Front in the last cantonal elections in 1988. It was unlikely that the party would fail to meet such a low expectation, especially since the Front was presenting candidates in 96% of the cantons in 1994, a higher proportion than in 1988. 21 This elevated figure also increased the likelihood that the FN would be able to maintain a greater number of candidates in the second round of voting.
Despite his relatively modest ambitions, Le Pen campaigned vigorously throughout France in the weeks leading up to the elections, pounding away at that same themes in every department in France. At a brief stop at the Carpiquet Airport, near Caen in Normandy, Le Pen posed with FN candidates from the department of Calvados and delivered a brief address in which he attacked the Balladur government's failure to resolve the problems of insecurity and immigration. He identified international free trade and the suppression of borders as "a grave structural problem" and called for protectionism, without which, "not a single French industry" would remain. 22 Le Pen also presented a disastrous scenario for the French fishing industry, mocked the taxation policies of the prime minister, and denounced government waste. 23
With few exceptions, the majority of the National Front candidates in the cantons of Calvados focused on national rather than local issues. Guy Dupin, the sixty year-old FN candidate in the canton of wealthy Trouville declared, "everything happens at the national level" in his interview with the local press. 24 He positioned himself against regionalization and the control of departmental finances by bureaucrats rather than elected officials. Dupin also denounced the European Community commission at Brussels for usurping the duties of elected national officials. However, on the local level, Dupin did not express any major objections to the leadership of Anne d'Ornano (UDF-PR) in Calvados.
Other candidates in Calvados were more focused on the issues raised by the National Front's leadership and the solutions which they proposed. Bernard Coulbrant, FN candidate in the canton of Blangy, made unemployment the core of his campaign. The solution which he proposed, "France for the French,~' is the simplistic slogan that has long been a mainstay of the National Front's opposition to immigration. Coulbrant also voiced his support for small farmers in their struggle with European Community's Common Agricultural Policy. Finally, the' candidate called for a massive reduction in taxation and said that France has more need of economists than politicians 25
Some National Front militants also sought office in the cantonals. The campaign literature of Michèle Hamon, FN candidate in the canton of Saint Pierre-sur-Dives, consisted mostly of photocopies of extracts from the national bulletins of the party. Hamon's expressed desire was "to serve the National Front" and its leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen. On all of the principal issues, including immigration, employment, taxation, education, and public health, Ms. Harnon stated that the solutions were "by definition" national. A definite pessimist, she denounced the future awaiting today's youth. She said, "Even during the last war, our generation was happier." 26 It was not uncommon for FN candidates to look nostalgically at the Vichy regime.
It was thus rare for a National Front candidate in any of the cantons in Calvados to use local issues as the nucleus of his or her campaign. When specific local concerns were raised, they were usually tailored to fit a theme sounded by Le Pen. The leader's support of protectionism was thus adapted to the interests of local industry, agriculture, and especially fishing. Small farming, fishing, and artisanal craft production were all praised by various candidates as the foundation of French society and culture. Many of the candidates themselves were either unemployed or under-employed.
The National Front did improve upon its score of 1988 in the first round of the cantonals in 1994, reaching 9.7% of the vote overall. However, the FN also found itself outdistanced by the communists for the first time in five years. 27 The moderate right maintained its dominance in the cantons with 44.6% of the vote while the socialists returned to the respectable position of 40.4% after their disastrous losses in the legislative elections of the previous year. The National Front fared best in large cities and their suburbs where its candidates often received more than 20% of the votes cast. In Seine Saint-Denis, it reached 30%. 28
There were few surprises in the results of the first round of voting. Incumbents from the major parties did well; minor candidates did not. Of the two FN incumbents eligible for re-election, one, Fernand Le Rachinel, won in the canton of Canisy in the department of the Manche. The other, Philippe Adam in the Bouches-du-Rh6ne, was forced into a run-off. Throughout the country, the National Front was able to maintain 92 candidates for the second round of voting. It did best in the department of the Var, where extensive political scandal had damaged the credibility of the more centrist parties and allowed the FN to present itself as the "party of morality." 29 To be eligible for the second round, a candidate had to receive the support of at least 10% of registered voters in the first round.
In the second round of voting on March 28, two more National Front candidates were elected as councilors. One was Marie-France Stirbois in the canton of Dreux-Est in the department of Eure-et-Loire, and the other was Eliane Guillet de la Brosse in Toulon in the Var. With Le Rachinel elected in the first round and Jacques Peyrat not up for election in the Alpes-Maritimes, the National Front could then count four councilors among its members.
The National Front did play a key role in a number of districts in the second round. In races involving three candidates, the presence of a representative of the National Front still on the ballot tended to favor the leftist as in the case in Elbeuf in Normandy. 30 In most cases the FN did not support the more moderate candidate of the right. Likewise, in duels between a member of the FN and a candidate from the left, the mainstream right would urge its supporters not to vote for the EN but to form a "republican front" against it. Mrs. Stirbois and Mrs. Guillet de la Brosse were the only two members of the National Front to successfully resist such a strategy and be elected.
The victory of Guillet de la Brosse in defeating Maurice Arreckx (UDF), a councilor since 1958, had particular national significance. The murder of National Assembly deputy Yann Piat (UDF) by a group of drug addicts had shocked the region which blamed Arreckx for the negative climate in the department. Interestingly, Piat was a member of the National Front until the late 1980's when Jean-Marie Le Pen's increasingly frequent anti-Semitic comments convinced her to switch her allegiance to the UDF. Mrs. Guillet de la Brosse was able to capitalize on the discontent of voters in the Var with traditional party politics.
In Alsace, the National Front also played an important role in two races. In the canton of Mulhouse-Est the FN candidate, Gerard Freulet, led the race in the first round, having a two point advantage over the socialist mayor of the city and former minister, Jean-Marie Bockel. However, Freulet was defeated by Bockel in the second round even though Mrs. Sejai-Eckert, the UDF candidate, had remained for the second round and had not formed a republican front with the socialist. In Belfort, the FN electorate also had an important part in siphoning votes from the UDF and RPR.
The cantonal elections were not a good gauge of the future electoral success of the National Front. The 9.7% of the vote which they won was a respectable figure, yet the majority district system of voting permitted only three individuals to be elected to the departmental councils. Moreover, the FN has always found it difficult to mobilize its supporters around local issues when its platform calls for national solutions to all of the issues which it considers important. The most telling statistic from the cantonal elections of 1994 is perhaps the fact that the National Front was able to field candidates in 96% of the cantons in France. This indicates a very wide implantation of the movement, even if the scores in many of the cantons do not reflect a particularly deep one. Jean-Marie Le Pen had much greater hopes for the elections to the European parliament which occurred in June. Soon after the dust had settled around the cantonals, Le Pen announced the beginning of the next campaign.
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
Le Pen hoped to substantially increase the representation of the National Front in the European parliament with a smashing victory in the elections for that body on June 12, 1994. He wished to counter a string of disappointing showings at the polls with a success to boost the morale of the FN cadres as well as the party's influence. When Le Pen announced the list of FN candidates for the European parliament on April 26, he had little in the recent past upon which to build. In addition to its poor showing in the
cantonals in March, the National Front suffered another defeat in a by- election held to fill a vacancy in the Chamber of Deputies to represent a district in Nice. In the first round of voting, Jacques Peyrat, the FN candidate, trailed Jean-Paul Barety (RPR) by only 34 votes with 37.5% of the total cast. The close margin was seen as a victory for the National Front. Nonetheless, Barety won the seat in the National Assembly with more than 56% of the votes in the second round on March 13 leaving the disappointed Peyrat to consider dropping his affiliation with the EN which he had come to view as "cumbersome." 31
Although the dissension of a popular and successful member of the National Front such as Jacques Peyrat may have disturbed Le Pen, the leader of the FN had good reason to expect success in the European parliamentary elections. First, the proportional method of voting favored small parties, which accounts for the fact that more than twenty lists were placed on the ballot. Any list receiving more than 5% of the vote was guaranteed representation in the parliament. Secondly, the issues likely to be raised in the campaign, such as the degree to which ties amongst members of the European Community should be strengthened, were ones on which Le Pen and the National Front had already staked clear positions. Thirdly, the continuing economic problems of France had led many to doubt the efficacy of the EC and to favor the anti-European platform of the FN. It was thus with great fanfare and enthusiasm that Le Pen presented his party's list of candidates for the European parliament in April in Oignies, at the heart of an abandoned mining district in the department of the Pas-de-Calais in northern France.
The choice of the site was significant. Le Pen, surrounded by leaders of the nationalist movement, announced his list and offered his speech in front of pit number 9, the last to be closed in 1990. Le Pen was attempting to visually demonstrate his contention that the policies of the European Community have only served to weaken the economy of France. In a highly nationalist discourse, Le Pen set the tone for the National Front's campaign. He first attacked the mainstream political parties of France for having turned over their responsibilities as legislators to the un-elected European Commission. The leader of the FN denounced the governments of the previous twenty years and their inability to resolve the problems of "decadence, immigration, unemployment, insecurity, taxation, and moral and political corruption." He further contended that entire segments of the French economy were disappearing such as "agriculture, fishing, artisanal industry, small business." Le Pen concluded that the principal cause of these problems was massive immigration and the inability of politicians on both the right and the left to take any action to stop it. 32
Jean-Marie Le Pen personally headed the "anti-Maastricht" list of candidates for the National Front which he hoped would bring his party greater success than the 11.72% of the vote which it won in the European parliamentary elections of 1989. The core of Le Pen's anti-European platform was his contention that the Treaty of Maastrict would lead France to economic ruin rather than the prosperity promised by its promoters. He argued throughout the campaign that the "thirty glorious years" of economic expansion which followed the Second World War were marked by a certain degree of protectionism. Le Pen then theorized that the current problems in France, such as a high unemployment rate, were caused by the opening of borders among EC nations and massive immigration. He said that he would not put his confidence in Greek border guards nor in Dutch drug enforcement agents. 33
In his traditional May Day discourse in honor of Saint Joan of Arc, Le Pen continued to praise the virtues of the French nation and to attack the Treaty of Maastrict as an agent of nefarious internationalists. He even compared Maastrict with the Treaty of Troyes which surrendered French sovereignty to the English during the Hundred Years War. He also compared the "extravagant audacity" of Joan to that of the National Front and suggested that the latter could save France from foreign domination as did the Maid of Orleans. 34 Furthermore, Le Pen dismissed his political adversaries, and, in a clear reference to Philippe de Villiers, declared that the only un-ambiguous anti-Maastricht platform was his own.
The leader of the National Front continued to decry internationalism in every speech that he gave during the campaign for the European parliamentary elections. The center of each discourse was the idea of the nation. He declared, "The unity of the human species appears to us to be inhuman, incompatible with our idea of the nation, family of families...." He continued, "That which we risk to lose with Maastricht is France..." 35 Le Pen also called free trade a disastrous ideology and emphasized the differences among nations.
The campaigns of the mainstream parties in May and June were largely colorless. One of the few interesting incidents of the whole season was the debate between Jean-Marie Le Pen and Bernard Tapie who headed the list of candidates for the small leftist French political party, the Radicals. Tapie is a controversial politician who is as well known for his business scandals as for his work in government. Tapie, a strong supporter of deepening the European Community, is also known for his colorful language. When Le Pen began the debate with a long list of all of the problems now facing France, Tapie responded by saying, "The more shit that there is, the happier he is." 36 Despite the coarse nature of Tapie's comment, it did serve to underscore the negative orientation of the National Front's platform.
The greatest threat to electoral success for the National Front, however, came not from the pro-European Radicals, but from the anti-European list of candidates led by Philippe de Villiers, a former member of the UDF who formed a splinter group to protest his party's support for the Treaty of Maastricht. In December of 1993, Le Pen had noted that he had similar views as de Villiers and that the latter defended "certain values for which the National Front fights." 37 However, by June of 1994, in the middle of the campaign for the elections to the European parliament, Le Pen angrily declared that de Villiers had copied his program. The FN leader asserted that while his party had been advocating those positions in the parliament in Strasbourg for the last ten years, de Villiers announced only good intentions and did not even promise that he would actually take his seat if elected.
The composition of the French delegation to the European parliament did change significantly after the elections of June 1994, but not to the benefit of the National Front. The big surprise of the election was the success of Philippe de Villiers on the right and Bernard Tapie on the left. Both received more than 12% of the vote to the detriment of the traditional parties. This entitled the lists led by each man to send thirteen representatives to Strasbourg. The National Front, with slightly more than 10% of the vote, was able to retain the ten seats which it already had. It was a disaster for Le Pen who had predicted that the EN would win 15% of the vote. His party was clearly affected by the success of de Villiers who presented an anti-European rhetoric without the fascist reputation of the National Front. 38
The National Front lost support in a number of key areas of France. Chief among these was the West where de Villiers, a native of the Vendee, scored his greatest triumph. However, Le Pen retained his core 10% of the vote nationally, with a strong implantation in the industrial north and east and in areas of high immigration. 39 The electorate of the National Front in these elections was again characterized by its youth. 50% of those who voted for Le Pen were between the ages of 25 and 49. Most of Le Pen's supporters again came from the working class; only 18% had attended a university. Moreover, 60% of those who voted for the National Front judged themselves as coming from the lower middle class, working class, or under-class while 62% were discontent with the functioning of democracy in France. Not surprisingly, 85% had voted against the ratification of the Maastrict treaty and most were anti-European and feared immigration. 40 Although Le Pen was thus not able to widen the appeal of the National Front in this election, he did not lose his core constituency. Those who voted for the list led by de Villiers were notably older and more privileged. 41
Although the National Front did not obtain the 15% of the vote in the elections for the European parliament for which its leader had wished, the FN's performance should not be seen as a complete disaster. The National Front still retained ten seats in the parliament. The National Front's implantation in France is also much deeper than that of Philippe de Villiers. Moreover, the fact that the elections occurred when the rightest government in power remained popular did not help Le Pen. With ten months between these elections and those for the presidency in 1995, Le Pen had plenty of time to attempt to build his popularity and to capitalize on any changes in the political environment in France.
THE FUTURE OF THE FRENCH NATIONAL FRONT
The future of the French National Front remains uncertain. Its successes in 1993 and 1994 were few and its losses many. Despite the relative declining fortunes of the party, it is still poised for a possible comeback, for three reasons. First, it retains its core constituency as mentioned above. Secondly, it remains present in every department of France. It is important to recall that the FN was able to field candidates in 96% of the cantons in the March elections. Thirdly, many voters continue to be dissatisfied with the mainstream parties. This was apparent in the presidential elections in May of 1995 when nearly 40% of the vote in the first round of voting went to candidates of the extreme right or left. Jean-Marie Le Pen again won fifteen% of the vote in that election. The National Front thrives on economic and social disorder and the apparent impotence of the established political parties to settle the complex problems facing the nation.
Despite the uncertain future of the National Front, it remains an important player in French politics. It has a well-implanted core constituency of disgruntled youth and workers. And, the movement has in Jean-Marie Le Pen a charismatic leader who has a significant impact on the political debate in France, and the National Front is still a force in the European parliament. Many of the issues now at the forefront of French politics, such as immigration and security, are ones that Le Pen first raised. It is not surprising that support for the FN declined in the same year that the government of Prime Minister Balladur introduced a new series of tougher immigration laws that were designed by tough-minded Interior Minister Charles Pasqua.
Le Pen has been very vocal in his opposition to strengthening the European Community. He is a fervent opponent of GATT and international free trade. Moreover, the platform of the National Front has been consistently anti-American. It is thus important for the international community to continue to monitor the National Front with vigilance There is a spectrum of possibilities for its future, especially as Jean-Marie Le Pen ages, and the next generation of the party hopefuls gains a greater voice in the affairs of the FN. The next few years will thus be of critical importance.
Notes
Note 1:
Former French Prime Minister Laurent Fabius said this while in office, generating debate as to
whether the questions were themselves valid. For a recent discussion, see the editorial pages
of Le Soir, 25-26 June 1994, and the responses in the weeks that followed. Back.
Note 2:
A brief but concise history of the National Front may be found in Peter Fysh and Jim Wolfreys,
"Le Pen, the National Front and the Extreme Fight in France," Parliamentary Affairs 45 (July 1992): 310. Back.
Note 7 An excellent list of French nationalist publications and groups may be found in Le Crapouillot 119 (May-June 1994): 52-55. Back.
Note 9: Fysh and Wolfreys, "Le Pen," p. 320. Back.
Note 11: Eugen Weber, "Nationalism and the Politics of Resentment," American Scholar 63 (Summer 1994): 423. Back.
Note 12: A full analysis of the poll may be found in "Fragilités et forces du lepenisme," Le Figaro, 4 February 1994, p.5. Back.
Note 15: "La chute de l'adhésion des idées défendues par Jean-Marie le Pen," Le Monde, 4 February 1994, p.8. Back.
Note 16: "Fragilités et forces du lépenisme," Le Figaro, 4 February 1994, p.5. Back.
Note 17: "Le Pen entre en piste pour la présidentielle" Libération, 4 February 1994, p.8. Back.
Note 18: "Le Pen réélu président," Le Figaro, 7 February 1994. Back.
Note 19: "Le Pen: 'Nous sommes la seule espérance des excius'," Libération, 7 February 1994. Back.
Note 21: "Le Front National affiche des ambitions modestes," Le Monde, 19 March 1994, p.9. Back.
Note 22: "Brève éscale de J.-M. Le Pen à l'aéroport de Carpiquet," Le Pays d',Auge (Lisieux), 22 February 1994. Back.
Note 24: "Guy Dupin, candidat du Front National" Ouest-France, 10 March 1994. Back.
Note 25: "Candidat du Front National our le canton de Blangy," Ouest-France, 14 March 1994. Back.
Note 26: "Michèle Hamon (Front National)," Onest-France, 8 March 1994, and "Michelle Hamon cendidat du Front National," Le Pays d'Auge (Lisieux), 11 March 1994. Back.
Note 27: "Cantonals: Le rééquilibrage," Onest-France, 22 March 1994. Back.
Note 28: "Les grandes tendances sont confirmées," Le Figaro, 22 March 1994. Back.
Note 30: "Le FN compte désormais quatre conseillero généraux" Le Monde 29 March 1994. Back.
Note 31: "Nice: Baréty légitimé, Peyrat s'éloigne du FN Ouest France 15 March 1994. Back.
Note 32: "Jean-Marie Le Pen lance sa campagne Le Figaro 27 April 1994. Back.
Note 33: "Le Pen: 'Maastrict mène à Ia ruine de la France Le Figaro 31 May 1994. Back.
Note 34: "Des voix de la Pucelle à celles du Front National Liberation 2 May 1994. Back.
Note 35: "Le Pen en guenre contre le 'mondialisme' Le Figaro 4-5 June 1994. Back.
Note 36: "Tapie-Le Pen: l'affrontement," Le Figaro 2 June 1994. Back.
Note 37: "Le Pen: 'convergences de vue' avec villiers Ouest France 7 December 1993. Back.
Note 38: "Lendemains de scrutin troublés," La Croix 14 June 1994. Back.
Note 39: "Leo leçons du scrutin," Le Figaro, 14 June 1994. Back.
Note 40: "Le noyau dur de l'électorat FN," Le Figaro, 18 June 1994. Back.
Note 41: "Villiers et Tapie: les révélations du scrutin," Le Figaro, 13 June 1994. Back.
