Suspended from Front National, Jean-Marie declares war on Marine Le Pen
Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of France’s anti-immigration Front National party, has declared war on current party leader Marine Le Pen, his daughter, after he was suspended from the party yesterday.
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On Tuesday, he told French radio station Europe 1 that it would be “scandalous” if his daughter became President of France, as she is hoping, in elections to be held in 2017.
And he said he hoped she “would get married soon and change her name” as he was “ashamed” that they shared a name.
Marine Le Pen instigated disciplinary proceedings against her father after he made anti-Semitic and racist comments last month, the latest in a long series of such remarks.
Since being elected leader of the party in 2011, Marine Le Pen has tried to change the party’s anti-Semitic and racist image.
After last month’s outburst, she said she felt obliged to take action.
He refused to attend Monday’s disciplinary hearing and said he would continue to speak his mind.
At the meeting it was decided that he would be temporarily suspended and a motion stripping him of his title as honorary president of the Front National would be put to members within the next three months.
On Friday, at the party’s traditional 1st May rally, he was dropped from the official line up on the podium but suddenly strode onto the stage in a red coat (see picture) and raised his fists as his daughter waited, looking uncomfortable, to begin her speech.
Meanwhile, his grand-daughter Marion Maréchal Le Pen, who is Marine’s niece, today said she would like time to reflect on her recent decision to replace Jean-Marie as FN candidate for the Provence Cote d’Azur region, in December’s regional elections.
She said she did not want to become the “hostage” of her grandfather, who makes no secret of his political preference for her over his daughter.
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