Tours Congress (National Front)

The Tours Congress was the 14th congress of the French National Front, which was held in Tours on January 15 and 16, 2011.

After 39 years of leadership, Jean-Marie Le Pen didn't run for his reelection. The aim of this congress was also to elect the members of the new Central Committee.

The congress[1]

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  • January 15, 2011
    • Beginning of the congress
    • Extrodirnary general assembly
    • Ordinary general assembly
    • Debates on the 2011 cantonal elections
    • Outgoing president Jean-Marie Le Pen's speech
    • Gala dinner
  • January 16, 2011
    • Beginning of the 2nd day of congress
    • Announcement of the results (President and Central Committee)
    • Bruno Gollnisch's speech
    • National Front Youth's convention
    • Central Committee meeting
    • New FN President Marine Le Pen's speech
    • End of the congress

Outside the congress, several thousand people demonstrated against the National Front along with 25 left-wing associations, trade unions and parties.[2]

Internal campaign

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On April 12, 2010, Jean-Marie Le Pen revealed he would leave office after the next Tours congress.

Marine Le Pen announced on several occasions her candidacy for president of the National Front against Bruno Gollnish.[3] The 3 main French far-right newspapers Minute, Rivarol and Présent[4] announced they would support Gollnish over Marine Le Pen as they are very hostile towards her.

On abortion, Bruno Gollnisch says he's totally against it.[5] On the contrary, Marine Le Pen is in favor of abortion.[6]

Unlike Marine Le Pen, Gollnish also wants to repeal the Civil solidarity pact;[7]

However, both candidates are in favor of a referendum on death penalty and are strongly opposed to immigration.[8]

62 year-old Gollnisch follows a very conservative political approach whereas Marine Le Pen wants to get away from far-right movements.[9]

On January 4, 2011, Jean-Marie Le Pen announced he'd vote for his daughter, Marine Le Pen but wished Gollnisch all the best for the election.[10][11]

Results

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The FN members had until January 8, 2011, to vote. They could only vote by post. .[12]

Presidency

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Popular vote
Marine Le Pen
67.65%
Bruno Gollnish
32.35%

References

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  1. ^ "Le programme du congrès de Tours" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2011.
  2. ^ "Tours: une manifestation anti-FN tourne à l'affrontement avec la police". Archived from the original on March 9, 2011.
  3. ^ « Marine Le Pen sera candidate à la tête du FN en 2010 »[permanent dead link], Reuters, 5.
  4. ^ « Marine Le Pen: pourquoi “Rivarol”, “Minute” et “Présent” font défection » Archived 2011-02-17 at the Wayback Machine, 16 octobre 2010.
  5. ^ Bruno Gollnisch : "avorter c’est tuer" Archived 2011-01-11 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Avortement : Marine Le Pen pour le droit des femmes à choisir Archived 2011-04-01 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "PACS : Bruno Gollnisch favorable à son abrogation • Le blog de Bruno Gollnisch". Le blog de Bruno Gollnisch.
  8. ^ qu, A.; dit, une Journée mondiale pour les victimes de bourreaux ? | CatInfor com. "Peine de mort : une pensée émue pour tous ceux à qui elle n'a pas été épargnée. • Le blog de Bruno Gollnisch". Le blog de Bruno Gollnisch.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ "France 2 Actualités & société - Tous les vidéos et replay | France tv". france.tv.
  10. ^ "Le Pen soutient sa fille mais souhaite un "bon score" à Gollnisch".
  11. ^ magazine, Le Point (January 4, 2011). "Le Pen souhaite que Gollnisch fasse 'un bon score'". Le Point.
  12. ^ "Congrès du FN : Le calendrier électoral est fixé !".