FRANCE: Veteran French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen launched his 2007 presidential bid yesterday, declaring that his anti-immigrant views were gaining ground and that government scandals showed France was now a "banana republic".
Mr Le Pen, who shocked France by coming second in the 2002 race against President Jacques Chirac, told a rally outside the Paris Opera that the tough stand on immigration taken by his right-wing rivals showed strong public support for a crackdown.
"I believe I can win both rounds of the presidential election," Mr Le Pen (77) told about 3,000 cheering supporters of his National Front party. "Our ideas are gaining ground."
Many in the crowd carried maps of France emblazoned with the "Love it or leave it" slogan that interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy and Mr Le Pen's far-right rival Philippe de Villiers have been using.
Referring to the 1960s slogan often shouted at Americans protesting against the Vietnam War, Mr Le Pen said: "We were the first to use this in France though, to be completely honest, I have to say it comes from the United States."
Analysts say support for Mr Le Pen seems to have risen for diverse reasons, such as weeks of rioting by suburban youths of mostly immigrant origin last autumn, student protests this spring, and scandals marking the end of Chirac's presidency.
Mr Le Pen has 12-14 per cent support in opinion polls, compared to 7-9 per cent one year before the 2002 election in which he knocked Socialist prime minister Lionel Jospin out of the running in the first round. - (Reuters)