On the evening of April 24, local time, the earliest export polls released by the French media showed that the current president and Republican Forward party candidate Macron won the election with 58.2% of the vote. Marina Le Pen, the candidate of France's far-right National Alliance, admitted defeat and said she would be involved in the fight for The French parliamentary elections.
Marine Le Pen, candidate for France's far-right National Alliance, attends a post-election rally in Paris on April 24. Xinhua News Agency
In any case, her presence was enough to make the European countries sweat a handful. Born from the "most dangerous" Le Pen family, from being proud of his father to being regarded as a "traitor" by his father, he stormed the presidential throne three times, but lost his hand with the presidential throne... She has too many labels on her body. Who is Marina Le Pen (hereinafter referred to as "Le Pen")? What kind of life experience did you have? Why are people so afraid of her?
Her mystery, we unveil for you.
From a father's fan to a father's "traitor"
Born in 1968 in Ile de France, Le Pen was the youngest daughter of Jean Marie Le Pen (hereinafter referred to as "Le Pen Sr."), the former president of the French National Front. As a child, in the 1970s and 1980s, when his father was rapidly rising in French politics, Le Pen was plagued by social controversy and even hatred and attacks caused by his father's promotion of populism and off-market radical political views.
In 1976, one of the walls of the apartment building was blown up. (Source: BBC)
In 1976, le Pen, just 8 years old, was awakened at home by an explosion made by his father's political enemies, and the room was littered with glass slag. She wrote in her biography: "From the time I woke up, I was no longer a little girl like everyone else. When she was in school, she was ostracized and isolated, some classmates called her "Nazi" and "fascist", and many people were still jealous of becoming colleagues with her after work.
Despite this, Le Pen was still proud of his father at the time, and joined the National Front at the age of 18. In 1998, she began working for the legal department of the National Front, entering politics and quickly ascending to power in the party through her father's support and her own political ability.
Le Pen Sr. and his daughters Jean (center) and Marina Le Pen (right), Paris, France, May 1, 1990. Image source: Visual China
In the 2002 French election, Le Pen the Elder unexpectedly defeated the then popular left-wing candidate, then-Prime Minister Jospan, to reach the second round of the election, but was easily defeated by then-President Jacques Chirac with 82% of the vote.
Although he was unable to enter the Elysée Palace in the name of the president's daughter, this year was an important turning point for the 34-year-old Le Pen. In that election, there were massive "anti-Le Pen" marches in France, and she began to reflect on her father's radical political program and line. The following year, when she became vice-president of the National Front, she took action against her father's party .
During this time, she carried out "de-demonization" reforms within the party, correcting the extreme line of the elder Le Pen and trying to sweep away the negative effects left by her father on the French. In 2011, Le Pen received 67.65% of the vote, becoming the second president of the National Front. Just a few years later, Le Pen, who was once proud of his father, officially broke with his father.
Le Pen Sr. kisses his daughter Marina Le Pen on November 30, 2014 in Lyon, France. The following year, Marina Le Pen expelled her father from the National Front party. Image source: Visual China
In May 2015, Le Pen could no longer stand his father's extreme rhetoric, publicly accused the elder of "political suicide" and made up his mind to start the party censorship process, terminating the elder Le Pen's membership and stripping him of the title of honorary chairman for life, expelling him from the National Front, which he had founded. Le Pen the Elder then called out publicly, regarding her as a "traitor" and demanding that she give up her surname, and the father and daughter have since become strangers.
In 2018, Le Pen changed the "National Front" to a more open "National Union", attracting traditional right-wing and even left-wing voters with a more resolute posture, hoping to completely get rid of his father's image of an "extreme destroyer".
Chen Xiaojing, a scholar at the Institute of European Studies of the China Institute of International Studies, commented that Le Pen's characteristic lies in his perseverance and courage to "kill his relatives in righteousness": perseverance lies in her struggle for many years in order to become the president of France; "great righteousness and extinction of relatives" is reflected in the timely demarcation with her father and his extreme views after the emergence of the new, and does not hesitate to give up her father's political heritage.
Three times in a decade, it has launched an assault on the presidency
Although he had a lot of "discord" with his father, Le Pen inherited the political ambitions of the elder Le Pen and launched three sprints to the presidential throne.
In 2012, just after being elected as the second president of the National Front, Le Pen began her first presidential campaign: she not only actively persuaded the party leaders to elect her as the only candidate in the party, but also shouted the slogan of "voice of the people, French spirit" in the general election, actively reshaping the image of the "National Front". In that year's French general election, Le Pen achieved a good third place in the first round of general election voting with 17.90% approval.
Macron and Le Pen. Source: The Paper
In February 2017, Le Pen once again began his sprint to the Elysee Palace. Two months later, in the first round of voting in the French presidential election, Le Pen entered the second round of the presidential election with the second place, competing with the fifth-ranked Macron for the presidency, and finally did not reach the opponent and defeated Macron.
Five years later, in 2022, Le Pen stood in front of the podium for the third time and won 23.15 percent of the vote in the first round, just 4.7 percentage points away from the top-ranked incumbent President Emmanuel Macron, and the performance was enough to sound the alarm for voters who thought Macron was a sure winner — never before in French history has the far right come so close to The supreme power in France.
At the east paris campaign venue in April, her supporters chanted "President Marina" and "We will win." When French media announced that Le Pen would enter the second round of the French presidential election with incumbent President Emmanuel Macron, the cheers on the scene once overshadowed Le Pen's speech.
On March 24, 2017, in Moscow, Russia, Le Pen met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Image source: Visual China
However, in the early days of the election, Le Pen was labeled "pro-Russian" by some voters for his extensive pro-Russian rhetoric before the Outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian crisis and for the photos of his cordial meeting with Putin in the campaign pamphlet distributed by the National Union. She also said that once the Russian-Ukrainian conflict is over, she hopes to promote "strategic reconciliation" between Russia and NATO.
This led to French public opinion believing that she "spoke for Putin" and stood with Putin. Some French people believe that this will have a great negative impact on Le Pen's campaign.
On the evening of April 24, Le Pen lost again to his rival Macron five years ago, once again losing the presidency.
Her presence made many European leaders sweat
Before the second round of voting, many European leaders sweated. German Chancellor Jorge Schoerz, Spanish Prime Minister Alexis Sanchez and Portuguese Prime Minister Costa jointly published an article in the French newspaper Le Monde, criticizing Le Pen for being anti-democratic, claiming that "we want a France that upholds the common values of Europe" and that voters "hope" voters choose the path that Macron has set for France.
French President Emmanuel Macron attends a post-election celebration rally in Paris on April 24. Xinhua News Agency
As early as the first round of elections on April 10, the US media revealed that the Biden administration was not only worried about Russia's interference in the French election, but also feared that "Putin supporter" Le Pen would shake the Western anti-Russian alliance if elected, which would enable Russia to achieve the "biggest victory" since the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
After the release of the results of the primary election, European leaders could not hide their excitement and congratulated Macron. Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said Macron's victory was "good news for all of Europe" and pushed the EU to "become the protagonist of the greatest challenge of our time, starting with the war in Ukraine". European Commission President von der Leyen also sent a congratulatory message to Macron at the first time: I look forward to continuing our excellent cooperation and continuing to push France and Europe forward.
A worker carries posters of Macron (left) and Marina Le Pen in Mitrimori, France, on April 13. Xinhua News Agency
Although Le Pen did not win the election, the rapid rise of far-right forces in France is an indisputable fact. The dust has settled on the French election, but it is bound to have a profound impact on French and even European politics.
"I can't help but feel a sense of hope. This result is proof for our French and European leaders of a great distrust of the French people, which they cannot ignore, and of the universal desire for great change. Le Pen said she won "a shining victory."
Le Pen was indeed not without success, at least, the campaign allowed her and her father to achieve some degree of reconciliation — after learning that her younger daughter had reached the second round of voting, the elder Le Pen, who had been in a cold war with her for several years, finally announced his support for his daughter's participation in the 2022 election.
[Reporter] Zhao Xiaona Ling Xi
【Intern】Feng Qisi
【Planner】Jay Lee
【Author】 Zhao Xiaona; Ling Xi; Jay Lee
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