Marine.

[greypanther]

So will Marine finely become president of France in the upcoming elections, or will the rest coordinate again, to keep her out? It is probably her best chance I would say and would really put the cat among the pigeons, so to speak.

The BBC suggest it could well be a two horse race, between her and a former banker!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38872335

I wonder if she will get backing from Putin too.

Interesting times...

[muppetts]

Can't see why Putin would not

http://www.politico.eu/article/russian- ... kel-putin/

He seems intent on most elections in EU, not like anyone can do anything even if they caught him red handed.

[RegisterMe]

I wonder if she will get backing from Putin too.

A quick google of that will give you plenty of material to consider.

[Usenko]

I assumed that Brexit would fail. I was WILDLY wrong.

I assumed that Trump would not be elected. I was WILDLY wrong.

So . . .

I'm assuming that Marine will win in France, and that her referendum on the EU will be breathtakingly successful. . . . .

(No, not to try and manipulate fate; the reverse. I'm recognising that in the current political climate, the likely outcome is the opposite of what I thought was likely. ).

[Bishop149]

What Usenko said.
But I hope to God the fascist* loses.
Yeah of course its in Putin's interest, anything that divides and weakens Europe is in his interest. Just as anything that divides and weakens the US is in his interest. I wonder if he has a plan for China . . . .

If you'd like to call that an exaggeration, well a French court has ruled its fine to call her that (just not a b****h).

[matthewfarmery]

I would say good luck to France to vote her in, then France leaves the EU, and the EU starts to crumble, as people start to get fed up with those in power giving the common people the shaft.

I really hope it's the turn of events that will bring down the EU, so it can be rebuilt back to the way it originally was, rather then the monster it is now.

I say if Britian leaves, it should hopefully make others follow. and damn those that are just feathering their own nests.

[clakclak]

Can't see why Putin would not

[...]

"I run this facking shut!"

[greypanther]

"I run this facking shut!"

Thank you for that link clakclak.

[clakclak]

"I run this facking shut!"

Thank you for that link clakclak.

I aim to please.

[muppetts]

He has a Trump vid too

[clakclak]

He has a Trump vid too

I assume by now everyone in the media has made some form of comment about Trump.

[greypanther]

Marines's manifesto:
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/world ... 5J0GB?il=0

France's far-right National Front detailed 144 proposals for party leader Marine Le Pen's election bid, including leaving the euro and a vote on European Union membership.

Here are the main proposals from the anti-immigration party's manifesto for the April and May presidential election:

6 MONTHS TO RENEGOTIATE THE EU OR GO FOR "FREXIT"

* Election to be immediately followed by six months of talks with EU partners with the aim to radically change France's membership and turn the bloc into a loose cooperative of countries: no more euro, border-free area, EU budget rules or pre-eminence of EU law.

* Referendum on EU membership at the end of the 6 months. Le Pen to recommend leaving if does not manage to radically change the bloc. Most likely scenario is therefore "Frexit."

LEAVE THE EURO

* The manifesto gives no details but a top FN official said would go together with: re-denominating the debt stock in the new currency, having the central bank defend that new currency and giving the government the right to order the central bank to buy its bonds.

* Would be accompanied by some form of loose monetary cooperation which could for instance manage exchange rate fluctuations.

PROTECTIONISM

* Public procurement to be open only to French firms as long as the price difference is not too big.

* "Intelligent protectionism" includes a 3 percent tax on imports. Le Pen's adviser Jean Messiha told Reuters the FN wants to force retailers to hold a certain percentage of French goods on their shelves.

* Reject international trade treaties

"NATIONAL PREFERENCE"

* Reserving certain rights now available to all residents, including free education, to French citizens only, which would be put to voters via referendum.

* Employers who hire foreigners to pay a tax worth 10 percent of the salary paid to those people, Le Pen's deputy Florian Philippot said.

SECURITY, DEFENCE

* Hire 15,000 police, build jails to make room for another 40,000 inmates.

* Automatically expel foreigners who have been condemned in court. Also expel all foreigners that are monitored by intelligence services for links with radical Islam. Close all mosques suspected of links with radical Islam.

* Leave NATO's integrated command, boost defense spending.

IMMIGRATION

* Make it impossible for undocumented migrants to legalize their stay in France.

* Curb asylum to requests made abroad, in French consulates.

* Make it much harder to become a French citizen -- being born in France would give no right to citizenship anymore.

* Curb migration to a net 10,000 people per year.

* Stop giving free basic healthcare to illegal migrants.

REFERENDUM

* Allow referendums to be organized on issues called for by 500,000 citizens.

* Cut the number of lawmakers by nearly half.

ECONOMIC TARGETS

* Says gross domestic product to grow by 2 percent in 2018, well above Bank of France's 1.4 percent forecast. The French economy grew by 1.2 percent in 2016, according to the INSEE statistics office.

FN sees GDP growth at 2.5 percent per year by the end of the 5-year mandate. Sees inflation at 2.5 percent in 2015.

* Says to cut taxes for households and increase welfare benefits. Says to be compensated by savings from fighting social security fraud and tax evasion, changing EU policy, new migration policy, administrative reform.

* Sees the public deficit at 4.5 percent of GDP in 2018, down to 1.3 percent in 2022. Says debt to be cut to 89 percent of GDP by 2022.

LOWER TAXES, BETTER WELFARE

* A 10 percent cut to income tax on three lowest revenue bands.

* Cut payroll tax for very small and medium-sized businesses and lower the corporate tax rate for SMEs.

* Lower the retirement age to 60 from the current 62, increase aid to the poorest of the elderly. Give child benefits to all without conditions. Cut by 5 percent the regulated price of gas and electricity.

* Allow each parent to give each of their children 100,000 euros tax-free every five years.

* Keep the working week to 35 hours, make overtime tax-free.

So Frexit is in the cards?

[RegisterMe]

Well if the FN stick to their manifesto France will become an economic basket case .

[InFlamesForEver]

Those policies make no sense, how can you cut taxes, raise welfare and lower the deficit?

[greypanther]

Those policies make no sense,

Which is a point I seem to remember having been raised about the policies of the Donald...

Where next will a similar character appear?

[Usenko]

We have ours in Australia:

Auntie Pauline.

Fortunately our system limits the damage such people can cause.

[greypanther]

With the election getting closer, just who will the French back in the second round, to avoid Le Penn becoming president? The European political elite cannot allow her power, it would be a disaster for them I suspect. Not that it would be much better for the rest of Europe either.

I wonder if it will have to be this man: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe- ... ting-story

He said he wanted France to rediscover its "spirit of conquest" and set out policies to tackle unemployment, abolish residence tax for most French households and make retirement conditions the same for everyone.

Other policies in the manifesto (in French) include banning the use of mobile phones in primary and secondary schools, forcing big internet companies to pay tax on their business activities in France and cutting corporation tax to 25% from its current level of 33.3%.

He told reporters he would sell up to €10bn ($10.6bn; £8.6bn) worth of government shares in large companies in which the state does not hold a majority.

There were also plans to tackle social exclusion in poor immigrant suburbs. Mr Macron said he would reduce school class sizes, set up grants to help young people find jobs, incentivise companies to hire them and improve relations between young people and the police.

Mr Macron called for an international "roadmap" to fight Islamic extremism in the Middle East and Africa and said he would increase military spending to 2% of GDP, as the US and other Nato allies have demanded.

He described Africa as the global region that presented the "greatest risk and opportunity" to France.

He also said the remaining 27 EU member states had to defend the single market in Brexit talks. He urged efforts to reinvigorate the eurozone and called for closer European co-operation.

It does not seem to be the best of choices for the French...

It is not just France either, Holland go to the polls on Wednesday, What chance will Wilder have, especially considering the Turkish demonstrations etc. Maybe I should rename the thread: Which European government will get the first far right government?

[pjknibbs]

The European political elite cannot allow her power, it would be a disaster for them I suspect.

They don't really have a choice in the matter, do they? If most of the French people want Le Pen in power then she'll be in power. In fact, if the EU do anything overt that is perceived as interfering with French sovereignty then they'll be playing right into Le Pen's hands--imagine the political capital she'd make from that!

[greypanther]

Well, there are twelve days to go to the election and there could be a late twist: Jean-Luc-Melenchon leader of the far left Parti de Gauche, has surged to third place, just four points behind second: Macron. With a third of voters saying they are undecided, it could go anyway. Maybe even a second round between far left and far right!

What a choice the French face! It would have to be a case of least worst for me, but which one is that? They all seem pretty crap.

[Warenwolf]

(...)
They all seem pretty crap.

Slightly off topic but:

This kind of sums up all political elections past four years around the world. IMHO and all that...