France regional elections: far-right nationalist party tipped for big gains - Polidicks

[quote]Voting has begun in French regional elections with the far-right Front National predicted to make gains in the wake of last month’s Paris terrorist attacks. The first-round regional vote comes three weeks after gunmen opened fire at a number of Paris bars and the Bataclan concert hall while suicide bombers struck outside the national stadium in coordinated attacks that killed 130 people and were claimed by Islamic State. It is the first time an election in France has been held under a state of emergency. Security has been stepped up at polling stations, with armed police and soldiers patrolling in the capital and security guards checking voters’ bags. Under its leader, Marine Le Pen, the Front National had already been predicted to make gains in the regional elections long before the November attacks, but since then polls have shown a boost for her party and a resolve among far-right sympathisers to turn out to vote. The Front National could top the poll nationwide and come first in as many as six out 13 regions in Sunday’s first round – this would be a historic moment for the party, which has never before held the leadership of a French region. The final result will be decided in a second round of voting on 13 December. Polls show that the Front National could ultimately take control of at least two large regions. Even winning one region would be seen as a major victory for the party that has never before held these constituencies. The party has been building a grassroots presence across France in order to move from a simple protest vote to a party with a serious strategy to take power across France. Le Pen hopes these regional elections will boost her chances in the presidential race of 2017.[/quote] [url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/06/far-right-tipped-for-big-gains-as-france-votes-in-first-elections-after-attacks]Source[/url]

The far right is going to rise quite fast due to the problems of the current government and how they're handling the refugee crisis. Humanitarian Aid is good and all, however there is nothing for anyone to gain with how accepting they are that they're willing to sacrifice the safety of their citizens and refugees who were there beforehand. If something doesn't show soon it's likely going to erupt, and I hope that doesn't happen.

Good, perhaps France will finally have a government that actually cares for it's citizens and the countries best interests.

[QUOTE=The fox;49258066]Good, perhaps France will finally have a government that actually cares for it's citizens and the countries best interests.[/QUOTE] Most of the time nationalists tend to focus on one or two issues at a time and ignore major ones. It's odd that people want nationalist parties to win in Europe and then turn right around to denounce Republicans in the US when they're the same thing.

Is it actually far right? Or is just just a blanket term for anything further than center right? I know lots of people will be thinking "oh no far right nazis" but can you really blame people for leaning to these parties after what is happening ?

[QUOTE=Jame's;49258173]Is it actually far right? Or is just just a blanket term for anything further than center right?[/QUOTE] They're talking mainly about the National Front, whose leaders say things such as: [quote]Marine Le Pen described Russian President Vladimir Putin as a "defender of the Christian heritage of European civilisation."[/quote] [quote]Jean-Marie Le Pen campaigned on the law and order policies of "zero tolerance", harsher sentencing, increased prison capacity, as well as a referendum on re-introducing the death penalty.[/quote] [quote]In 2005, Jean-Marie Le Pen wrote in the far-right weekly magazine Rivarol that the German occupation of France "was not particularly inhumane, even if there were a few blunders, inevitable in a country of [220,000 square miles]" and in 1987 referred to the Nazi gas chambers as "a point of detail of the history of the Second World War."[/quote] [quote]During her visit to the United States, Marine Le Pen met two US Republican members of the U.S House of Representatives associated with the Tea Party movement, Joe Walsh, who is known for his strong stance against Islamic extremism, and three-time presidential candidate Ron Paul, whom Le Pen complimented for his stance on the gold standard.[/quote] etc. etc. They have a poster that is literal propaganda. "The Immigrants are voting, and you're staying at home!?" [editline]6th December 2015[/editline] [img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7a/National_Front.gif[/img]

[QUOTE=Zillamaster55;49258232]They're talking mainly about the National Front, whose leaders say things such as: etc. etc. They have a poster that is literal propaganda. "The Immigrants are voting, and you're staying at home!?" [editline]6th December 2015[/editline] [img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7a/National_Front.gif[/img][/QUOTE] and there are still folks in facepunch that defend le pen. [QUOTE=Jame's;49258173]Is it actually far right? Or is just just a blanket term for anything further than center right? [B]I know lots of people will be thinking "oh no far right nazis" but can you really blame people for leaning to these parties after what is happening ?[/B][/QUOTE] it's the equivalent of trying to solve a headache with a cyanide pill. also: [IMG]https://facepunch.com/image.php?u=657266&dateline=1435327708[/IMG] really living up to that avatar eh.

[QUOTE=Zillamaster55;49258232]They're talking mainly about the National Front, whose leaders say things such as: etc. etc. They have a poster that is literal propaganda. "The Immigrants are voting, and you're staying at home!?" [editline]6th December 2015[/editline] [img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7a/National_Front.gif[/img][/QUOTE] Don't forget how the party has called the EU the "puppets of the New World Order" and "the last stage on the road to world government", and how they want to make abortion difficult or outright illegal. Not a great bunch of folks at all.

The National Front is literally everything opposite of what France has stood for since the late 70s

[QUOTE=Zillamaster55;49258232]They're talking mainly about the National Front, whose leaders say things such as: etc. etc. They have a poster that is literal propaganda. "The Immigrants are voting, and you're staying at home!?" [editline]6th December 2015[/editline] [img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7a/National_Front.gif[/img][/QUOTE] This doesn't seem that far right though. Most of these extracts aren't extreme.

[QUOTE=Jame's;49258268]This doesn't seem that far right though. Most of these extracts aren't extreme.[/QUOTE] [quote]Le Pen visited Saddam Hussein in Baghdad in 1990, and subsequently considered him a friend[/quote] [quote] In the early 2000s the party denounced the Schengen, Maastricht, and Amsterdam treaties as foundations for "a supranational entity spelling the end of France."[/quote] [quote]The party's ideology has been broadly described by scholars such as Shields as authoritarian, nationalist, and populist[/quote] They also have a youth group. Political organizations don't need youth groups. [editline]6th December 2015[/editline] Like, sure if there's a different conservative party rolling around that has anti-immigrant views, more power to them because that's what republicanism/democracy is all about go right ahead. It's just that the National Front is concerning in how far right and fairly aggressive it tends to be, which leads me to believe that they will not be a strong choice for France in the years to come, as I feel they focus too much on foreign policy and odd racial issues as opposed to economic or social development in the country.

Le Pen will never be President. Regional gains and maybe seats in parliament is as far as the party will go.

[QUOTE=Zillamaster55;49258288]They also have a youth group. Political organizations don't need youth groups. [editline]6th December 2015[/editline] Like, sure if there's a different conservative party rolling around that has anti-immigrant views, more power to them because that's what republicanism/democracy is all about go right ahead. It's just that the National Front is concerning in how far right and fairly aggressive it tends to be, which leads me to believe that they will not be a strong choice for France in the years to come, as I feel they focus too much on foreign policy and odd racial issues as opposed to economic or social development in the country.[/QUOTE] I still don't believe they are that extreme, even so most political parties tend to have youth wings.

[QUOTE=Zillamaster55;49258288]They also have a youth group. Political organizations don't need youth groups.[/QUOTE] We also have those, the largest in Europe even. Nothing wrong with it.

[QUOTE=Jame's;49258173]Is it actually far right? Or is just just a blanket term for anything further than center right? I know lots of people will be thinking "oh no far right nazis" but can you really blame people for leaning to these parties after what is happening ?[/QUOTE] It's a blanket term, the same applies to the left. Unlike the historical far right, the modern far right is liberal and closer to the center. So now all it takes is opposing immigration and globalization to be a Nazi, because we are very liberal with that word (ironically). A far rightist is anyone who does not conform to liberal internationalist orthodoxy that has come to dominate the west and Europe since 1945, but especially since 1991. For all intents and purposes they were what the liberal center was before those developments. They never really became fascists, it's everyone else that changed.

-snip-

[QUOTE=Zero-Point;49258494]I should hope not, [url=http://i.imgur.com/SKlXSth.jpg]especially after what happened last time.[/url] :v:[/QUOTE] Don't be an idiot.

[QUOTE=Jame's;49258558]Don't be an idiot.[/QUOTE] How is he being an idiot? Why should a [I]political party[/I] have a youth group? What do they have to gain? Besides indoctrinating children so that the party can force a future generation to think like them.

[QUOTE=Zillamaster55;49258642]How is he being an idiot? Why should a [I]political party[/I] have a youth group? What do they have to gain? Besides indoctrinating children so that the party can force a future generation to think like them.[/QUOTE] Uh there's youth groups of both left and right here in Switzerland, it's not something unusual. You also seem to think that youth group == children, which is also not true.

Youth groups as well as other groups like for women etc. have been a thing for a long time. He cited Hitler youth as an example of how that's such a bad idea, lol. Parties have youth groups mostly because young people bring energy and activity but they're not legally old enough to be full members yet. The youth get political anyway, with or without a party. Whether in Weimar germany, Ukraine during Maidan, or a arab nation-state like syria breaking down into tribes and religious sects, young people are often on the front line in street battles and such representing their side.

I can garuntee you its the youth whos making these far right people like Le Pen, Or Donald Trump rise in polls. Its not a bunch of old guys who wish it was like what it was before. Its the youth. Can confirm, went to a trump rally that was mostly filled with 20 year olds

[QUOTE=Zillamaster55;49258642]How is he being an idiot? Why should a [I]political party[/I] have a youth group? What do they have to gain? Besides indoctrinating children so that the party can force a future generation to think like them.[/QUOTE] Not every youth group is the Hitler youth...?

[QUOTE=The fox;49258066]Good, perhaps France will finally have a government that actually cares for it's citizens and the countries best interests.[/QUOTE] Yeah good thing the FN is anything but that. The mere fact they're the congregation of all the neo nazi, racist, homophobic and otherwise hateful shitlords France has to offer is enough to keep them as far away as possible from office. Not the entire group is composed of these idiots and the actual party has made efforts to chase them out or at least to camouflage them (they put up a very specific dress code regarding political rallies, which forbids shaved heads, leather jackets, military fatigues and boots, notably), but the entire party is working on a pile of bad apples that they have yet to get rid of.

[QUOTE=Jame's;49258173]Is it actually far right? Or is just just a blanket term for anything further than center right? I know lots of people will be thinking "oh no far right nazis" but can you really blame people for leaning to these parties after what is happening ?[/QUOTE] Following that same thought process is why the US is trillions of dollars in debt and stuck in a never ending conflict fueled by fear and paranoia

[QUOTE=Zillamaster55;49258288]They also have a youth group. Political organizations don't need youth groups. [editline]6th December 2015[/editline] Like, sure if there's a different conservative party rolling around that has anti-immigrant views, more power to them because that's what republicanism/democracy is all about go right ahead. It's just that the National Front is concerning in how far right and fairly aggressive it tends to be, which leads me to believe that they will not be a strong choice for France in the years to come, as I feel they focus too much on foreign policy and odd racial issues as opposed to economic or social development in the country.[/QUOTE] Front National is most definitely right wing (and probably largely a bunch of racists), but youth groups are pretty normal for any party here in Denmark - nothing wrong with it, getting people to engage on politics early on is great in my opinion.

Having to vote for the socialist candidate was kind of a bummer when the minor parties were looking so good, but in the end I look at it like I voted against FN. Still a kick in the nuts when I went in and thought I'd give UPR a chance, but now I can't be held accountable for any eventual far right victory.

Hopefully current far right parties will adjust to their recent support with more preassure on moderation. That might turn a current far-right niche party into a leading center-right party, which i think is what the EU needs right now. [editline]6th December 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=Jame's;49258173]Is it actually far right? Or is just just a blanket term for anything further than center right? I know lots of people will be thinking "oh no far right nazis" but can you really blame people for leaning to these parties after what is happening ?[/QUOTE] It's easier for most people to see the world in black and white.

The reason the far right is making so much gains is because of head in the sand rhetoric and policy's that evade issues with nonsense along with increasing terror attacks and the out of control refugee crisis. Whats happening is people looking for a group that can fix the problems, and the far right offers easy fixes to those problems, with racist insanity and very closed views. There seems to be a shrinking middle ground here, and common sense seems to be on the losing side.

[QUOTE=Zillamaster55;49258642]How is he being an idiot? Why should a [I]political party[/I] have a youth group? What do they have to gain? Besides indoctrinating children so that the party can force a future generation to think like them.[/QUOTE] I'm in a youth group, It tends to be people out of their own free will. Most members are usually 15- 28. It's not the equivalent of the Hitler youth.

Is this the same french far right which was taking donations from Russia?