Marine Le Pen dangerous for Sarkozy

French President Sarkozy's conservative UMP party obtained just two percentage points more than the extreme right Front National in Sunday's cantonal elections. The left-liberal daily Süddeutsche Zeitung warns of the threat posed by the Front National's chairman Marine Le Pen: "It can no longer be ruled out that the young nationalist leader will beat Sarkozy in the first round of the presidential elections in 2012 and make it to the run-off vote. That would be a disaster for France and a dark omen for Europe. ... She wants to reintroduce the franc, leave the EU and protect local industry with trade barriers. ... For Sarkozy governing will become even more difficult than it already is. He must communicate a feeling of confidence to the insecure French without becoming xenophobic or Islamophobic. He will have to impose the German stability policy on France without provoking massive social unrest. That will be difficult. But one thing is reassuring: even if Sarkozy fails, Marine Le Pen will not become president. Because the French are reasonable enough to prefer a socialist."

» more information (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Elections, » France
All available articles from » Stefan Ulrich

» To the complete press review of Tuesday, March 22, 2011