Marine Le Pen reelected at the head of the National Rally for a fourth term

Published on : 07/04/2021 – 11:04

Marine Le Pen, the only candidate for her succession, was unsurprisingly re-elected, Sunday, July 4, at the head of the National Rally for a fourth term at the 17th RN congress in Perpignan, in the south of France. She should temporarily leave her post in the fall to devote herself to the presidential election.

According to the results of the ballot tabulated Thursday and proclaimed Sunday at the party congress in Perpignan, the far-right leader, at the head of the RN since 2011, was elected with 98.35% of the votes of the members (1.22% d ‘among them voted blank and there were 0.43% spoiled ballots).

Post-regional adjustments

The indestructible leader of the French far-right party beats Sunday the recall of its activists gathered in congress in Perpignan for the presidential election, after a defeat in the regional which generated questions within the RN.

“Nothing is lost, there is still a way” to victory, assured the number two of the party Jordan Bardella on Saturday, much applauded. But “we have no right to doubt,” he added, while the failure at the regional level drew criticism internally. In this regard, he criticized the “hidden”, the “deserters” of the party who “shoot the backs of the front line fighters”.

The president of the National Rally should take up the fundamental and mobilizing themes of her party, such as immigration. On Wednesday, she had already called for “mobilization” in the face of “submersion [migratoire] program of Europe “.

Two days later, she published with 15 allies in Europe a joint declaration aiming at a “great alliance in the European Parliament”, a mark of “unifying work” according to the RN.

But it will also reaffirm its line of “openness” to personalities outside the party, defended on Saturday by the candidate in Paca and ex-LR Thierry Mariani, invited to the congress like the other non-RN candidates.

“We are not going to return to the National Front” and “we still need to seek out people” to “open up and not shrink”, insists spokesman Sébastien Chenu.

Who to take over the “temporary presidency”

To devote herself to the presidential election, the far-right leader should temporarily release the head of the party in the fall, by designating her replacement on Sunday, who will be the first vice-president of the party, in accordance with the change in the statutes adopted on Saturday.

Jordan Bardella is approached for this post, which is also running for the host of the congress, the RN mayor of Perpignan Louis Aliot, who highlights his “experience” of 30 years at the FN then at the RN.

With AFP