On July 5, the racist, far-right National Front (FN) was narrowly defeated in the second round of the Henin Beaumont municipal by-election.

In response to the strong showing of the FN in the first round, left-wing parties and the conservative Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) formed a Republican Front and supported Daniel Duquenne of the Miscellaneous Left (DVG).

Duquenne won the position of mayor with 52.4% of the vote in the second round, with the FN’s Steeve Briois coming close.

In the first round on June 28, the FN won 39% of the primary vote in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. The DVG had come a distant second with 20%.

The Socialist Party (PS) whose fiefdom the municipality had been, received only 17% as punishment for the scandalous conduct of the incumbent PS mayor — now in jail facing charges of embezzlement.

Tensions were high as the results were announced. The FN, which gained an additional 1500 votes between the two rounds, declared it would contest the results before the administrative tribunal. It cited unfair pressure on voters from election material that predicted an end to state subsidies in the event of a FN victory.

Tear gas was thrown into a crowd of celebrating Duquenne supporters. Later that evening, a showdown near the FN headquarters between pro and anti-FN crowds was forcibly averted by police.

A media release from the New Anti-Capitalist Party (NPA) welcomed the defeat, but warned the FN remained a danger.

It said: “The FN manipulates people’s anger and disgust at the town’s mismanagement and the pro-capitalist policies of the [major] parties … to advance its own racist, popularist and anti-social ideas.”

The NPA reminded voters that some members of the newly elected mayoral team had contributed to the disastrous situation the town now faced. It urged working people to rally around a program that would break with the current system and defend their interests.

The NPA and the French Communist Party (PCF) issued a joint statement the following day, foreshadowing a joint left list for the 2010 French regional elections, comprising the PCF, the NPA, the Left Party, and Workers’ Struggle.

10 July 2009

* From: International News, Green Left Weekly issue #802 15 July 2009.

Far right gains in municipal election first round

4 July 2009

The far-right French National Front (FN) won 39% of votes in the first round of the Henin Beaumont by-election in Northern France on June 28. The by-election, in the Nord Pas-de-Calais department, was called after the incumbent Socialist Party (PS) mayor was charged with corruption.

The area had been a PS stronghold for the past 40 years. Yet voters have punished the previous mayor and his team for allegedly embezzling four million Euros. The PS only won 17% of votes. The Miscellaneous Left polled second with 21%.

The New Anti-Capitalist Party (NPA) recieved 2.4% of the primary vote. It has called on all voters to vote against the FN in the second round.

On June 29, NPA candidate Severine Duval said: “The National Front is not an opposition party; it sidetracks [electors’] anger in order to attack freedom and democracy.

“A victory for the National Front would be the worst thing for Henin Beaumont’s workers and poor”, she said.

The PS is trying to cobble together a combined list of all other parties to oppose the FN in the second round.

The FN has not won control of a French municipal council since 1995. In the recent European elections it dropped from seven seats to three.

The strong showing for the far-right in Henin Beaumont can be largely credited to widespread disgust for the corruption of the previous mayor. Yet the decline of the PS follows its poor results in the European elections.

While the conservative Union for a Popular Movement won 29 seats, the PS managed won just 14 — on a par with the Greens. The NPA recieved just under 5% of the vote and so missed out on a seat.

A remarkable feature of the European elections was the high abstention rate. It reached nearly 60% in France, and 80% in poorer areas, according to a TNS-Sofres poll. The same poll found that the rate was 70% among youth. In the Henin Beaumont by-election about 40% of voters abstained.

* From: International News, Green Left Weekly issue #801 6 July 2009.