Page 8 - aruba-today-20170506
P. 8
A8
WORLD NEWSSaturday 6 May 2017
As bitter French campaign ends, candidates get in last shots
By ELAINE GANLEY Mediapart that would not the Interior Ministry late Fri- visit to a renowned cathe- racism and anti-Semitism,
NADINE ACHOUI-LESAGE have been “democratical- day to look into claims by dral in Reims. closer than ever to the
Associated Press ly honest.” The candidates the Le Pen campaign that The presidential campaign French presidency, seizing
PARIS (AP) — Far-right presi- must stop campaigning ballot papers are being has been unusually bitter, on working-class voters’
dential candidate Marine growing frustration with glo-
Le Pen said Friday she be- A municipal police officer walks near election campaign posters for French centrist presidential balization and immigration.
lieves she can pull off a candidate Emmanuel Macron, left, and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, in Saint Jean Pied de Even if she loses, she is likely
surprise victory in France’s Port, southwestern France, Friday May 5, 2017. The second round of the French presidential elec- to be a powerful opposition
high-stakes runoff Sunday, tion will take place Sunday May 7. figure in French politics in
while independent front- the upcoming parliamen-
runner Emmanuel Macron (AP Photo/Bob Edme) tary election campaign.
accused her of exploiting “Even if we don’t reach our
voter fears. at midnight Friday to give tampered with nationwide with voters hurling eggs goal, in any event there is a
In an interview with The As- voters a day of reflection to benefit Macron. The Le and flour, protesters clash- gigantic political force that
sociated Press in the final before the election. It’s a Pen campaign said elec- ing with police and candi- is born,” she told AP in her
hours of a hostile, topsy- stark choice: Le Pen’s anti- toral administrators in sev- dates insulting each other campaign headquarters.
turvy campaign, Le Pen immigration, anti-European eral regions who receive on national television — a Her party “imposed the
said that win or lose, “we Union platform, or Macron’s ballot papers for both can- reflection of the wide- overhaul” of French poli-
changed everything.” She progressive, pro-EU stance. didates have found the Le spread public disaffection tics and set the tone of the
claimed an “ideological Tensions marred the race Pen ballot “systematically with politics as usual. election, she said.
victory” for her populist, right to the end. torn up.” Le Pen, 48, has brought The 39-year-old Macron,
anti-immigrant worldview France’s presidential vot- Earlier in the day, anti-Le her far-right National Front too, played a key role in up-
in an election that could ing watchdog called on Pen crowds disrupted her party, once a pariah for its ending France’s traditional
change Europe’s direction. political structure with his
Macron acknowledged wild-card campaign.
that the French are exas- Voters liked the idea, and
perated by the govern- chose Macron and Le
ment’s ineffectiveness, but Pen in the first-round vote,
he dismissed Le Pen’s vision dumping the traditional left
of an infuriated country. and right parties that have
She “speaks for no one. ... governed modern France.
Madame Le Pen exploits Le Pen said those parties
anger and hatred,” Ma- have been “blackballed.”
cron told RTL radio. Many voters, however,
The pro-business Macron don’t like either Le Pen
said he has not bowed to or Macron. They fear her
pressure to change his plat- party’s racist past, while
form to appeal to a broad- worrying that his platform
er electorate — on the left would demolish worker job
or the right — since winning protections or be too much
the first round of the presi- like his mentor, the deeply
dential election on April 23. unpopular outgoing Presi-
He told the news website dent Francois Hollande.q
UK Conservatives gain in local election; Labour, UKIP sink
By JILL LAWLESS Birmingham area of central But Defense Secretary Mi- land’s biggest city and Jeremy Corbyn — painted
Associated Press England, once strong La- chael Fallon said voters once the staunchest of La- by the Conservatives as a
LONDON (AP) — British bour Party territory. “are now seeing that what bour strongholds. high-taxing loose spender
Prime Minister Theresa May Portraying herself as a rock this country needs is a gov- Labour did win mayoral who is weak on security — is
appeared on course for a of stability in turbulent times, ernment with a full, work- contests in the northern driving the party toward a
sweeping election victory May is urging voters to give ing majority to negotiate a English cities of Doncaster, resounding defeat on June
next month after her Con- the Conservatives a bigger good, successful exit from Liverpool and Manchester, 8.
servatives made big gains majority in Parliament in the the European Union and to but lost the race in the West Meanwhile, the centrist Lib-
in local elections at the ex- June 8 national election in build a stronger, fairer Brit- Midlands area around Bir- eral Democrats — the most
pense of rivals on both the order to strengthen Britain’s ain.” mingham to Conservative firmly pro-EU of Britain’s ma-
pro-EU left and the Euro- hand in exit talks with the The main opposition La- Andy Street by just 4,000 jor parties — failed to make
skeptic right. European Union. Results bour Party took a beating, votes. the big gains they were
Ballots were counted Fri- from the local elections shedding some 300 local Labour finance spokesman hoping for in Thursday’s
day from contests for local suggest the message is get- councilors nationwide and John McDonnell acknowl- vote.
councils in Scotland, Wales ting through. suffering losses in long-time edged the party had suf- And the right-wing U.K. In-
and many parts of Eng- John Curtice, a professor heartlands including indus- fered a tough night, but dependence Party, whose
land, as well as from may- of politics at Strathclyde trial south Wales and north- told ITV the results were not animosity to the EU helped
oral competitions in several University, said the Con- east England. “the wipeout that people drive Britain out of the bloc,
cities. servatives were on course Most dramatically, it lost expected.” He insisted it is was all but wiped out. UKIP
With almost all the results for their best local-election ground in Scotland, where still “all to play for” in the lost all but one of the more
in, May’s party had gained result in at least a decade, the Conservatives — long national vote. than 100 council seats it
control of 11 new coun- and possibly in a quarter all-but-extinct there — But the results will deepen held, as voters switched to
cils, added more than 500 century. made gains. The party the gloom of Labour mem- the Conservatives now that
new councilors and taken “I will not take anything for even lost control of the city bers who believe their UKIP’s main goal had been
a plum mayoral post in the granted,” May insisted. council in Glasgow, Scot- staunchly left-wing leader achieved.q
