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CNN Live Today
As Chirac Celebrates, Le Pen Looking Forward to Upcoming Election Battles
Aired May 06, 2002 - 13:32 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.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: And fresh from his crushing defeat of far right candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen, French President Jacques Chirac is mapping out his next move today. He named a conservative moderate as prime minister. As Mr. Chirac celebrates, Mr. Le Pen is looking forward to upcoming election battles.
The story now from CNN's Chris Burns.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Why is this man singing? Jean-Marie Le Pen just lost to French President Jacques Chirac by a landslide. Still, the ex paratrooper is in the mood to belt out one soldier song after another. Le Pen's election night suave (ph) at his suburban villa looks like a victory party. For the far right leader, the fact he just made it to the runoff was a triumph, humiliating both Chirac and socialist Prime Minister Leonid Jeuspah (ph). He blames his loss on a wide swathe of society, though insists he's still content with the result.
"I think that with all of the means of the financial, social, philosophic, union, business, religious and lesbian communities and all of the rest, I think it is still not bad," he says.
And good enough for Le Pen to believe his party's future prospects are brighter.
(on camera): Jean-Marie Le Pen lost this presidential election, but to him, it's just another battle. He is looking ahead it parliamentary elections next month. And he says he is willing to enter into alliances with the conservatives to block the left from power.
(voice-over): Some conservatives have made such arrangements with the National Front before.
"It doesn't upset me," Le Pen says. "We'll do as they do."
No immediate comment from conservatives.
Le Pen managed to boost his support by about 1 percent since the first round of the presidential election, to nearly 18 percent. That's 3 points more than in the 1995 election. Some of Le Pen's supporters say they are unfairly portrayed, even if their leader in past called Nazi gas chambers a detail in the history books.
"There is no respect for Le Pen voters," says this woman. "We were treated like intolerant people, like Nazis. That really hurt me, because we represent a considerable electorate."
Le Pen hopes he can build on those gains in next month's parliamentary election with his populous arguments, pounding away at what he calls a technocratic elite that he blamed for crime, 9 percent unemployment, immigration and euroglobalization.
How much a Chirac interim government does to attract Le Pen voters in the coming weeks can determine how strong the National Front's votes will be after the June parliamentary races.
Chris Burns, CNN, France.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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