The leader of the French extreme right Jean-Marie Le Pen died at the age of 96 | Politics News
The co-founder of the National Front led the party for decades and was known for his fiery anti-immigration rhetoric.
Jean-Marie Le Pen, co-founder of the French far-right National Front party, has died at the age of 96.
His death was confirmed on Tuesday by his daughter Marine Le Pen’s political party, Rassemblement National.
Jean-Marie Le Pen was known for fiery anti-immigration rhetoric that earned him both staunch supporters and widespread condemnation.
A polarizing figure in French politics, Le Pen has made statements — including Holocaust denial and a 1987 proposal to forcibly isolate people with AIDS — that have led to multiple convictions and strained his political alliances.
Le Pen co-founded the National Front party in 1972 and ran for the French presidency five times. He caused a shock in France in 2002 when he made it to the second round of the presidential election, which was won by Jacques Chirac.
Commenting on Le Pen’s death, French President Emmanuel Macron said: “A historic figure of the far right, he played a role in the public life of our country for almost 70 years, which is now for history to judge.”
Le Pen’s daughter, Marine, renamed his party the National Front and transformed it into one of the most powerful political forces in France. She also distanced the party from her father’s extremist image.
Despite the eventual Jean-Marie Le Pen switching off from his own party in 2015, his divisive legacy remains.
He was a shrewd political strategist and gifted orator, who used his charisma to captivate crowds with his anti-immigration message.
His death came at a crucial time for his daughter. She now faces potential prison time and a ban from running for political office if convicted embezzlement trial.
A few convictions
Le Pen, who lost an eye in a street brawl at a young age, was a constant force in French political life, impossible for politicians to ignore.
He was repeatedly convicted of anti-Semitism and routinely accused of xenophobia and racism. Le Pen retorted that he is simply a patriot protecting the identity of “eternal France”.
In 1990, he was convicted for a radio statement three years earlier in which he called the Nazi gas chambers “a detail in the history of World War II.”
In 2015, he repeated that remark, saying he had “no regrets at all,” which drew the ire of his daughter – by then the leader of the party – and a new conviction in 2016.
He was also condemned for a 1988 remark linking a government minister to Nazi crematoria, and for a 1989 comment blaming the “Jewish International” for helping to give birth to “this anti-national spirit”.
Recently, Jean-Marie Le Pen and his daughters Marine and Yann were accused of using money intended for European Union parliamentary aides to pay their own staff, in violation of the rules of the 27-nation bloc.
He was considered unfit to testify in court.
