Paris: With the polls narrowing and one of her main rivals embroiled in an expenses scandal, far-right leader Marine Le Pen could feasibly become French President in May, senior politicians and commentators say. At the headquarters of her National Front (FN) party in Nanterre outside Paris, officials believe the same forces that led to the Brexit vote in UK and Donald Trump’s victory in the US could carry her Pen to power.
Even some of her rivals concede a victory for the far-right firebrand is possible.“I think she could be elected,” former conservative prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin said this month. Another former premier, the Socialist Manuel Valls, has also warned of the “danger” of assuming that Ms Le Pen cannot win. Polls show that support for the anti-immigrant and anti-EU candidate has been consistent for four years now. Since 2013, surveys have shown Ms Le Pen will progress through the first round to reach the runoff stage in two-stage election.
