PARIS (Sputnik) — Le Pen has never before been elected to the French National Assembly, although she has been a member of the European Parliament since 2004 and has been elected to several regional governments.
Winnable Constituency
"I think she will win. In 2012 she was only several votes behind. And her party will definitely multiply the amount of its deputies; now they only have 2. The goal of the National Front is to have 12, 15 deputies, which will allow them to create its parliamentary group," Chiche said.
The FN has strongly urged its supporters to vote for the party at the parliamentary election during the first days of the presidency of Emmanuel Macron, to whom Le Pen lost in the runoff of the presidential election on May 7.
Party Trouble Over Euro
The issue of France's withdrawal from the Eurozone may lead to a rift within the FN ahead of the legislative election, but the divide will not be crippling, Stephane Francois, a professor of political science at the University of Vincennes told Sputnik.
Earlier in the day, FN Vice President Florian Philippot said that he would "definitely" leave if the party decided to keep France in the Eurozone, an announcement that came a few days after Philippot started a new bloc within FN, The Patriots.
"It’s the first time in the history of the National front that a rather competitive project is presented within the party. But this position – to exit the Eurozone – it is not really popular in the National Front now, especially not with their elected members [to the European Parliament, local administration]. They have a much liberal economic position and are much more pro-euro than the line of Philippot," Francois said.
Another issue that may have destabilized the party was the departure of Marion Marechal-Le Pen, a popular member of FN, who decided to quit politics altogether for personal reasons.
Le Pen Ready for Battle
Le Pen stressed at a press conference on Friday that the FN was a "solid movement" with a "structured project".
"We are the only solid movement, the rock. We have steadily come to the legislative elections, without changing our positions, which makes us a movement of great solidity and great perseverance," Le Pen said.
This the third time Marine Le Pen participates in the parliamentary elections. She first ran in 2007 and then in 2012.
Five years ago, Le Pen lost a little over 100 votes to a socialist party candidate Philippe Kemel in the second round.
The two-round legislative elections will take place on June 11 and June 18.
