Ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy's
conservative UMP and its allies led voting in the first round of French
local elections, exit polls suggest.
They pushed the far-right National Front into second, with President Francois Hollande's ruling Socialists in third.
Voters are electing representatives in 101 departments, or counties, charged with issues like schools and welfare.
A second round of voting will take place in a week's time.
Mr
Hollande's third place in the estimated results, released after polling
closed on Sunday, follow on from defeats in municipal and EU elections
last year.
Various exit polls put the UMP and its partners in first place - ahead of Marine Le Pen's National Front (FN).
Some polls ahead of the vote had indicated that the far-right, anti-immigration FN could come top in the first round.
Ms Le Pen had been hoping the elections would build momentum ahead of her expected bid for the presidency in 2017.
Socialist
Prime Minister Manuel Valls welcomed the news that the FN had scored
less that some had predicted, saying the results showed it was not the
strongest force in French politics.
However, Ms Le Pen called for
Mr Valls to resign, celebrating what she said was a "massive vote" for
her party, exceeding its performance in the European Parliament
elections. Analysis: Hugh Schofield, BBC News, Paris
It's
another big vote for the French far-right, following the municipal and
European elections last year. In this first round of departmental or
county council elections, nationwide 24.5% of voters chose the National
Front, according to one poll.
It is a figure that shows yet again
how Marine Le Pen's strategy of building a system of local organisation
and shutting down the party's overtly racist elements is paying off.
However, opinion polls had suggested the far-right could have done
better - even emerging as the most popular party in the election.
That didn't happen, which has given some cheer to the mainstream opposition here, led by former President Sarkozy. The results mean the second round of voting on 29 March will see a run-off between the UMP and the FN in many counties.
In the past, voters for rival parties have combined in the second round to keep the far-right out.
By late afternoon on Sunday, turnout stood at almost 43%, higher than in the last local election in 2011.
For
the first time, voters in these elections are not choosing single
candidates - but pairs of candidates - one man and one woman - in order
to enforce strict gender equality in local politics.
France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen could face racism
charges after a European parliamentary committee voted to strip her of
her immunity from prosecution, MEP Cecilia Wikstrom confirmed to FRANCE
24 on Saturday.
France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen
could face criminal charges for inciting racism after a European
parliamentary committee voted to strip her of her immunity from
prosecution.
The French authorities attempted to try Le Pen, head of France’s
National Front (FN) party, back in 2011 over comments she made comparing
Muslims praying in the street to the Nazi occupation of France.
But the case had to be dropped as Le Pen’s status as an MEP meant she was immune from prosecution.
But this immunity was "unanimously" rescinded in a secret vote held
by a European parliamentary committee this week, MEP Cecilia Wikstrom
confirmed to FRANCE 24 on Saturday.
“There
was only one ‘no’ vote and the rest were in favour of lifting her
immunity so that the French authorities can investigate this case,”
Wikstrom said, adding that the move will do little to change Le Pen’s
role as a member of the European parliament.
“She will be fully entitled to continue her political duties in the
European parliament… I believe the French authorities got exactly what
they wanted. They wanted us to lift her immunity,” she said.
Though the move will still need to be ratified by the full
parliament, it could allow French prosecutors to reopen their case
against Le Pen, which stems from comments she made in December 2010 –
during her spell as vice-president of the FN – at a meeting of around
300 party faithful in the southern French city of Lyon.
“For those who want to talk a lot about World War II, if it's about
occupation, then we could also talk about [Muslim prayers in the
streets],” she said. “There may not be any tanks or soldiers, but it is
nevertheless an occupation.”
The comments sparked outrage in the French press and among many sections of the public at the time.
Nevertheless, Le Pen and the FN, of which she became leader in January 2011
after succeeding her father Jean-Marie Le Pen, have enjoyed a recent
surge in popularity and she gained a surprisingly high 18 per cent of
the vote in the first round of France’s presidential elections in 2012.
Meanwhile, France’s Muslim population - thought to number more than
two million - and its integration into French society, remains a hot
button issue in the country.
Recent events, including bans on wearing the Islamic veil in public
and praying in the streets, as well as incidents such as the apparently
religiously motivated stabbing of a French soldier by a convert to Islam
near Paris on Wednesday, have served to further heighten tensions.
