Trump picks Pam Bondi as attorney general after Matt Gaetz withdraws    Fake-alcohol deaths highlight SE Asia's methanol problem    Netanyahu attacks ICC war crimes arrest warrants    KSrelief provided over $7bln to support children around the world    Al-Jasser: Saudi Arabia to expand rail network to over 8,000 km    OMODA&JAECOO: Unstoppable global cumulative sales over 360,000 units    Saudi Arabia sees 73.7% rise in investment licenses in Q3 2024    9 erring body care centers shut in Riyadh    20,000 military emblems confiscated in Riyadh    Al-Samaani visits headquarters of Hague Conference on Private International Law    Al Hilal doesn't need extra support to bring new players, CEO says    Fate of Gaetz ethics report uncertain after congressional panel deadlocked    Indian billionaire Gautam Adani indicted in New York on fraud charges    Rafael Nadal: Farewell to the 'King of Clay'    Indonesia shocks Saudi Arabia with 2-0 victory in AFC Asian Qualifiers    Sitting too much linked to heart disease –– even if you work out    Yemeni Orchestra's captivating performances in Riyadh, showcasing shared cultural legacies    Future of Ronaldo's Al Nassr contract remains undecided, says Saudi Pro League CEO    GASTAT report: 45.1% of Saudis are overweight    Denmark's Victoria Kjær Theilvig wins Miss Universe 2024    Order vs. Morality: Lessons from New York's 1977 Blackout    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Filipino pilgrim's incredible evolution from an enemy of Islam to its staunch advocate    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Brexit a double-edged sword for France's National Front
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 07 - 07 - 2016

BRITAIN'S vote to leave the European Union looks like a boost for France's euroskeptic National Front, but that could turn to trouble for the party if voters see instability across the Channel when they elect a new president in 10 months' time.
National Front (FN) leader Marine Le Pen looked ecstatic as the Brexit result was announced, calling it a "victory for freedom" that would soon be repeated in France, an EU-founding member whose voters are increasingly euroskeptic.
As the only major party in France that backed Brexit and is calling for a similar in-or-out referendum on EU membership, the FN has at first glance much to gain from a vote that thrust Europe to the center of France's 2017 election debate.
"It's excellent news for the FN," the party's vice president Florian Philippot said. "Up until now we were told that leaving the EU would be apocalyptic, that we'd be isolated. Britain will show it's exactly the opposite."
Like many of the Brexit campaigners, the FN banks on grassroot anger with elites, and is faring well in small towns and rural areas that feel forgotten by globalization, giving it hopes the Brexit vote will push even more working-class voters to vote for it next year.
Opinion polls already show that the anti-immigration FN, whose ratings benefited from Europe's refugee crisis, is likely to top the first round of the presidential election.
"The headlines are doing the FN's job for it, yet again," said sociologist Sylvain Crepon, an expert on the FN at the university of Tours.
But where the Brexit legacy stands as the French vote for a president on April 23 and May 7 next year will be key.
The Brexit vote has plunged Britain into political chaos. Prime Minister David Cameron announced he is standing down, opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn faces an open revolt by parliamentary colleagues and UKIP leader Nigel Farage, one of the most effective Brexit campaigners, said he is resigning.
There has been a sharp drop in the pound and in British consumer confidence since the vote, while pro-EU Scotland is threatening to quit the United Kingdom.
"If things go well (at the time of the French elections), the FN will benefit from it. If it's trench warfare, if banks are moving their headquarters away from Britain, if the British economy has taken a hit, the FN argument will be caught out," Ifop pollsters' analyst Jerome Fourquet said.
The FN's Philippot says much of the talk about negative consequences of Brexit "is a refusal by the elite, especially in France, to accept reality."
But for Fourquet, "if the political situation in Britain unravels, if Scotland wants to leave ... the FN's opponents will be able to say: ‘See, we've been telling you for years that the EU exit backed by Marine Le Pen, of which Brexit is a test case, is a failure."
There is early evidence in some other European countries that the Brexit vote and the political uncertainty it triggered in Britain may be denting parties that want to leave the bloc.
Surveys conducted since the referendum have shown support for EU membership rising sharply in both Finland and Denmark.
"If the chaos we are witnessing in the UK at the moment makes others think twice about leaving, that is not a bad thing," an aide to German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.
It is unsure at this stage how clear the consequences of Brexit will be in 10 months' time, or whether the divorce talks will have started.
How Donald Trump's populist, anti-Washington message fares in US election in November and whether the far-right wins in the October re-run of Austria's presidential election — which could itself be influenced by the Brexit vote — could also affect the FN's appeal.
Le Pen has said that, if elected, she would launch negotiations to leave the euro, restore borders, ensure the primacy of French law over EU law, and scrap EU checks on French public finances.
After six months, voters would decide in a referendum whether to stay in the bloc or leave.
Even within the FN, there has been criticism of this policy, which has put off the elderly — who tend to vote more than younger voters — for fear their pension could be affected.
However, opinion polls since the Brexit vote show a change among FN voters, with a huge majority now backing an EU exit. According to an OpinionWay survey on June 27, some 69 percent would vote for a "Frexit."
But those same polls also showed that only about one in three voters overall want a Frexit, making the FN's anti-EU stance an obstacle to voting for the otherwise increasingly popular party.
The head of the FN in Paris' Ile-de-France region, Wallerand de Saint Just, attributes this to a divide between richer and poorer voters.
"In the bourgeois neighbourhoods, that's where it's a problem. They go crazy over these (EU) issues. That's what's stopping them from voting for us," Saint Just, who is also the FN's treasurer, said. "But in the working class areas they don't really care."
Analysts, who still see Le Pen losing the presidential election run-off, say it goes beyond this divide.
The French "are overall unhappy with how Europe works but many consider that once you are on a train, even if it's uncomfortable, it's dangerous to jump off a moving train," Fourquet said.


Clic here to read the story from its source.