Published on 05/11/2022 09:46
(credit: AFP)
France’s far-right National Rally party elected Jordan Bardela, 27, president on Saturday, replacing Marine Le Pen.
Bardella, one of Le Pen’s patrons and a favorite to take over as party leader, won 85% of the vote and defeated Perpignan (south) mayor Louis Elliot who won with 15%.
After 11 years in the field of political formation, Marine Le Pen decided to retire from the presidency of the party, formerly known as the National Front (FN), which her father Jean-Marie Le Pen led for nearly 40 years.
Bardella does not intend to overshadow Marine Le Pen, who will continue to be the party’s leading figure, as she puts it.
“I am a continuity filter, and I aim to protect [seu] An incredible legacy,” he said before being elected.
Bardella would like Le Pen to run for the French presidency for the fourth time in 2027, after hitting a record 41.45% of the vote in the second round of the April elections against centrist Emmanuel Macron.
The then-chairman of the RN party led the election campaign for the legislative elections in June, winning 89 seats, ten times more than five years earlier.
Thus, the formation became the first opposition party in the National Assembly.
