Crime, unemployment fuel support for France's Le Pen

[Strengthandhonour]

Crime, unemployment fuel support for France's Le Pen

By Anna Willard
HENIN-BEAUMONT, France (Reuters) - Pensioner Marianne Kaj says North African immigrants snatched her handbag, attacked her son and stole two of his cars.
Her response to the crime rate, which is fuelled by high unemployment, is to vote for far-right national front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen in the April 22 presidential election.
"I am going to vote for Jean-Marie Le Pen. He wants to throw the foreigners out," she said as looked at second hand clothes in a store in Henin-Beaumont, a former mining town in northern France.
Ironically, Kaj is from Poland. She was lured to France 42 years ago by the prospect of a good job, like many of the immigrants arriving today.
"The Polish are well integrated. We came to work. There are some immigrants who are not," she says in broken French and a thick Polish accent. "I'm not racist though."
Le Pen, who has promised zero immigration if he is elected, shocked France in the 2002 presidential election by finishing second, helped by the despondent voters of Henin-Beaumont.
The town gave him 23.5 percent in the first round and 26 percent in the runoff against President Jacques Chirac, much higher than his national score of 16.8 and 17.9 percent.
He is lying fourth in opinion polls this time, but has crept up behind the third placed centrist Francois Bayrou. He is still a long way behind right winger Nicolas Sarkozy, the frontrunner, and Socialist Segolene Royal.
INDUSTRIAL WASTELAND
Le Pen's National Front party considers Henin-Beaumont to be symbolic of its success in drawing working class voters away from mainstream parties, particularly from the left-wing politicians who have controlled the local government for years.
Slag heaps can be seen on the outskirts of the town but the coal mines closed long ago and the manufacturing that remains is struggling against foreign competition.
Unemployment stands at nearly 20 percent, over twice the national average and the local bars are full of bored young men.
Jacqueline Vaury and her unemployed 23-year-old son Jeremy are among a bar crowd hoping to win some money on the horses.
"The biggest problem here is finding a job," she said.
They feel abandoned by the mainstream parties and their situation has worsened under left and right-wing governments
They doubt Sarkozy and Royal will keep any of the promises they have made and do not know who to vote for.
"They're all the same," Vaury said. "We'll decide on the day."
There is also a feeling that immigrants are finding it easier to get a job.
"I was in the front of a queue for help once but they helped a North African lady first," says Frederic Dubois, a 30-year-old nursing a beer in another bar.
This concern plays into the Le Pen's promise for policies that reflect "national preference" for those of "French origin".
Abdallah Aouzal, the owner of the Top Marche food shop, moved to France from Morocco 18 years ago.
He thinks Le Pen's immigration ideas are ridiculous and says comments like those of Dubois are fuelled by jealousy.
But he also understands why Le Pen is doing well

People are fed up, they have a lot of problems, social crises, no money, and after the government we've had, it's got worse," he said.
PROTEST VOTE
Some people chose Le Pen in 2002 as a protest against the main parties and say they may do the same again this year.
"I can't rule it out because there is some truth in what he says," said Olivier Potvain, a 42-year-old father.
"I think he's going to get a better score than in 2002. I know lots of people who will vote for him in the first round but not in the second round. They don't really want him to become president because I think they're a little bit scared."
But Le Pen's reappearance in the second round is far from assured. He is facing a significant challenge from Sarkozy, who has deliberately taken a tough line on immigration and security policies, to try to draw away some of the extremist votes.
Michael Maillard, is an unemployed factory worker who lives with his girlfriend and two children in a one-room flat next to the disused nightclub which houses the National Front's regional headquarters.
He voted for Le Pen in 2002 but this time he is torn.
"I'm thinking about Sarkozy because he has the same themes as Le Pen," he said.



source: Crime, unemployment fuel support for France\'s Le Pen | In Depth | Reuters