Tag: by-election

France’s National Front scores ‘spectacular’ 46% in Villeneuve-sur-Lot by-election

Etienne Bousquet-Cassagne of the Front National
Etienne Bousquet-Cassagne of the Front National

A 23-year old candidate from France’s right-wing Front National, Étienne Bousquet-Cassagne, has lost against the mainstream UMP candidate during a by-election in south western France, but scored an overall 46% of the votes, sending shivers through the Socialist government.

Jean-Louis Costes of the UMP yesterday obtained 53,76% of the votes and so prevented Mrs. Marine Le Pen’s Front National from sending a third MP to the French Assemblée. Adding to Socialist woes and causing the governing party to be eliminated during the first round of the contest, was a financial scandal surrounding its candidate and a former junior minister, Jérôme Cahuzac. Accused of tax fraud, Mr. Cahuzac admitted to maintaining a secret bank account abroad for 20 years.

During the first round, the young National Front candidate obtained 26,04% of the votes against Jean-Louis Costes’s 28,71%, ahead of the Socialist Bernard Barral’s 23,69%.  On the eve of the second round of voting, the secretary general of the Socialist Party and long-time anti-racist activist, Harlem Désir, called on all voters to “block the Front National candidate”. Both the French President, François Hollande  and Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault repeated Désir’s message to voters.

Bousquet-Cassagne stated that the results of the second round showed “an electoral defeat but an ideological victory”. The leader of the Front National, Mrs. Marine Le Pen, said last night that the “primary lesson” to be drawn from this by-election was that the “so-called republican front against us was dead”. She noted the spectacular progress made by her party during the two rounds and maintained that “it shows that the combined left-liberal parties are no longer able to mobilise their electorate to prevent the Front National from gaining votes”.

France: 23-year old right-wing candidate defeats Socialist minister in first round of by-election

Etienne Bousquet-Cassagne of the Front National
Etienne Bousquet-Cassagne of the Front National

France’s socialist government suffered the indignity of a first-round exit in a parliamentary by-election to replace a disgrace minister forced out over a tax-dodging scandal.

Former budget minister Jerome Cahuzac, who is facing charges of tax fraud, stepped down from his parliamentary seat in April.

In Sunday’s by-election for his seat in Lot-et-Garonne, southwest France, the socialist candidate was pushed into third place — and thus eliminated.

The second-round run-off on June 23 will be fought between a candidate from the centre-right UMP party of former president Nicolas Sarkozy; and a member of the far-right National Front (FN).

The vote was marked by a turn-out significantly lower than in the 2012 general election: only 46 percent of the 75,000 voters eligible to have their say bothered to do so.

President Francois Hollande acknowledged that the result was fall-out from the scandal around Cahuzac, whose ministerial portfolio had included the fight against tax evasion.

For UMP president Jean-Francois Cope, the result was another “scathing repudiation of Francois Hollande and his policies”.

Socialist party leader Harlem Desir called on voters to ensure the FN candidate did not win the second-round run-off vote.

Sunday’s result was another slap in the face for the ruling Socialists after defeats last weekend in two other by-elections.

The party now has 292 deputies in the National Assembly: just three seats more than the 289 seats that ensures an absolute majority.

Through to the second round are the UMP’s Jean-Louis Costes, who came first with 28.7 percent of the vote; and the FN candidate, 23-year-old Etienne Bousquet-Cassagne, who polled 26 percent.

Socialist candidate Bernard Barral came third with 23.7 percent. – AFP