Le Pen’s election bid starts with anti-Islam stance
French far-right party leader Marine Le Pen has launched her election bid with a pledge that she is the only presidential candidate that can protect France from “Islamic fundamentalism,” globalization, and the EU.
“What is at stake in this election ... is whether France can still be a free nation," said Le Pen at a major camping rally held in Lyon on Sunday.
"The divide is not between the left and right any more but between patriots and globalists," she added.
Bolstered by the election of US President Donald Trump and the UK’s Brexit vote, Le Pen's anti-immigration, anti-EU National Front (FN) is aiming for similar results in France.
"Financial globalization and Islamist globalization are helping each other out ... Those two ideologies want to bring France to its knees," she added.
She added that Islamic prayer and the veil worn by Muslim women were threats to France’s culture and values and that “no French person, no Republican and no women” would accept them.
Le Pen noted that if she is elected as president, mosques and places of Islamic teaching will be closed down. Her party has also vowed to hold a referendum on France’s EU membership.
Immigration and religious extremism have been steady subjects for Le Pen’s party with focus on the terrorist attacks which have targeted the country over the past few years.
Polls show that the she will gain enough votes to reach the second runoff but will lose to a mainstream candidate at that stage.
Read More:
France fails to ban anti-Islamophobia protests
Thousands march in Paris against 'racism, Islamophobia'
French police arrest man after threatening to detonate himself at Iran consulate
European Parliament members criticize EU as 'accomplice’ in Israeli war on Gaza
VIDEO | Modi's anti-Muslim hate speech sparks outrage in India amid elections
Israeli war machine claims more civilian lives across Gaza
US Senate passes multibillion-dollar aid package for Israel amid Gaza war
VIDEO | Taliban press ahead with war on drugs
VIDEO | UK govt. Rwanda bill denounced as 'state-sponsored people trafficking'
VIDEO | Iran president visits Lahore, Pakistan’s cultural hub
North Korea: US military drills drive regional security into turmoil
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
