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CNN Live Today

Presidential Primary in France Sparks Controversy, Protests

Aired April 22, 2002 - 14:53   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The results of yesterday's presidential primary in France are being called a political earthquake. It's an unexpected twist. President Jacques Chirac will face a far right nationalist, who's described as anti-semitic and fascist. The news sparked violent protests over night, as Kevin Dunn reports.

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KEVIN DUNN, ITV REPORTER (voice-over): Across France, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in protest of the size of the vote for the National Front's Jean-Marie Le Pen. They declared the shame of the electorate and the shame of the French people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want united people. We don't want racism. We don't want fascism.

DUNN: The protests turned violent in several cities. In Toulouse, riot police fought running battles with demonstrators. And the clashes, too, in central Paris. But the fact is, not enough people turned out to vote in the first round of the election to defeat the National Front.

Le Pen's 17 percent of the vote ensured him a place in the presidential runoff in two weeks' time. He won't win, but for his supporters, it was as good as victory.

Le Pen called on French voters to seize the opportunity for change. It was an extraordinary result for Le Pen, who campaigned on the issues of pride and immigration, and who has often been written off because of his anti-semitic and neofascist views. He once described the Holocaust as a detail in history.

The big loser was Lionel Jospin, the socialist prime minister, who crashed to a defeat and immediately announced his retirement from politics.

President Jacques Chirac may have topped the poll, but his demeanor was hardly that of a winner. Here the result and Le Pen's showing was described by the Labor Party chairman as a matter of concern.

CHARLES CLARKE, BRITISH PARLIAMENT MEMBER: It must be a matter of concern that extremists have got a candidate in the final presidential runoff in France, and there will be quite natural worries about that situation. As I say, it's a matter for the French people at the end of the day.

DUNN: President Chirac will win the runoff. But the aftershocks of the political earthquake in France will reverberate beyond the election. Kevin Dunn, ITV News.

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