French far-right party definitively severs ties with founder

by Dramelin 5:00 AM 0 comments

France`s far-right National Front party has definitively severed its ties to firebrand founder Jean-Marie Le Pen as it tries to revive its fortunes.
The party also re-elected his daughter, Marine Le Pen, to a new term as president at party congress where she was its only candidate for the post.
A new 100-member governing council was also named.
The party tweeted Sunday that more than 79 percent of members who participated in a vote approved new party statutes that included abolishing Jean-Marie Le Pen`s position of party president for life.
The party expelled him in 2015 over anti-Semitic remarks but he kept the honorary position.
Sunday`s vote is a crushing blow for the 89-year-old, who founded the party in 1972 and was runner-up in the 2002 French presidential election.