Le Pen Unlikely to Become President Despite FN Electoral Success - Experts

Despite the victory of the far-right National Front (FN) party at the recent regional elections in France, its leader Marine Le Pen is unlikely to gain enough support to be elected as the country's new president, experts told Sputnik.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Sunday, Le Pen's anti-immigration, eurosceptic party took political elites across Europe by surprise, winning 28 percent of the vote in the first-round of the regional elections and winning elections in six of 13 France's regions. A possible FN victory in the second round could be used as a launchpad for Le Pen's presidential bid in 2017.

France’s far-right National Front president Marine Le Pen, center, surrounded by members, waves to supporters after her speech during their meeting in Marseille, southern France, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2015.

© AP Photo / Claude Paris

According to Barah Mikail, senior researcher at FRIDE international think tank, based in Madrid and Brussels, and Associate Professor at Saint-Louis University, Madrid, despite the results of the FN it is not the most significant political power for many of the French voters.

"We should not exaggerate the prospects for Marine Le Pen becoming president: despite its good scores, the Front National is not so far the choice number one for French voters."

Mikail said that the result  FN got in the elections could be attributed to the low turnout and the possibility of Le Pen's party to respond to the actual issues such as security and economic situation.

Jacques Sapir, Director of Studies at the French School for Advanced Studies in Social Sciences told Sputnik that Le Pen could win in the first round of presidential election, however French political system would allow her rivals to achieve victory in the second one.

"In the French political system the second round allows for coalitions and right now we are witnessing a strange de facto coalition between the left and the right to try to block the National Front. Such a scenario is certainly to happen for the Presidential race to take place in 2017. Whatever the configuration, Mrs. Marine Le Pen, the National Front leader is assured to be ahead of the first round and present for the second one. But it does not imply she will be elected."

Sapir added that Le Pen would get more chances in presidential campaign if she succeeded both to make her political agenda more specific and more realistic and keep its radical flavor that attracted voters.

The second round of the regional elections in France is scheduled for Sunday, December 13. FN has already called for mobilization of voters to support it in the second round.