Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Edition:
U.S.
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Home
Business
Business Home
Economy
Technology
Media
Small Business
Legal
Deals
Earnings
Social Pulse
Business Video
The Freeland File
Aerospace & Defense
Investing Simplified
Markets
Markets Home
U.S. Markets
European Markets
Asian Markets
Global Market Data
Indices
M&A
Stocks
Bonds
Currencies
Commodities
Futures
Funds
peHUB
Dividends
World
World Home
U.S.
Brazil
China
Euro Zone
Japan
Africa
Mexico
Russia
India Insight
World Video
Reuters Investigates
Decoder
Politics
Politics Home
Supreme Court
Politics Video
Tech
Technology Home
MediaFile
Science
Tech Video
Tech Tonic
Social Pulse
Opinion
Opinion Home
Chrystia Freeland
John Lloyd
Felix Salmon
Jack Shafer
David Rohde
Nader Mousavizadeh
Lucy P. Marcus
Nicholas Wapshott
Bethany McLean
Anatole Kaletsky
Zachary Karabell
Edward Hadas
Hugo Dixon
Ian Bremmer
Lawrence Summers
Susan Glasser
The Great Debate
Reihan Salam
Frederick Kempe
Mark Leonard
Breakingviews
Equities
Credit
Private Equity
M&A
Macro & Markets
Politics
Breakingviews Video
Money
Money Home
Tax Break
Lipper Awards 2012
Global Investing
MuniLand
Unstructured Finance
Linda Stern
Mark Miller
John Wasik
James Saft
Analyst Research
Alerts
Watchlist
Portfolio
Stock Screener
Fund Screener
Personal Finance Video
Money Clip
Investing 201
Life
Health
Sports
Arts
Faithworld
Business Traveler
Entertainment
Oddly Enough
Lifestyle Video
Pictures
Pictures Home
Reuters Photographers
Full Focus
Video
Reuters TV
Reuters News
Article
Comments (0)
Full Focus
Editor's Choice
Our best photos from the last 24 hours. Slideshow
Download our Wider Image iPad app
Images of October
Follow Reuters
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
YouTube
Read
Cracks surface in Republican unity on tax rates
28 Nov 2012
Palestinians turn to U.N. for state recognition
|
2:44pm EST
Former President George H. W. Bush stable in hospital
2:19pm EST
U.S. gives Iran until March to cooperate with IAEA
1:39pm EST
California Democratic campaign treasurer gets eight years for fraud
28 Nov 2012
Discussed
243
Obama promotes tax agenda, U.S. Congress in stand-off
202
Warren Buffett calls for a minimum tax on the wealthy
86
Senators won’t support Rice until Libya questions resolved
Pictures
Reuters Photojournalism
Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography. See more | Photo caption
LA Auto Show
New concepts and models at the Los Angeles Auto Show. Slideshow
Fire and water
Lava flowing into the ocean creates a rare natural show in Hawaii. Slideshow
Sponsored Links
France's National Front smells opportunity as rivals feud
Tweet
Share this
Email
Print
Factbox
Political risks to watch in France
2:08pm EST
Analysis & Opinion
To see future electorate, look at California voters now
French Catholics march against planned legalisation of same-sex marriage
Related Topics
World »
Investing Simplified »
France »
France's National Front supporter holds posters of political party leader Marine Le Pen in front of UMP party headquarters in Paris November 25, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/Pascal Rossignol
By Brian Love
PARIS |
Thu Nov 29, 2012 2:12pm EST
PARIS (Reuters) - France's far-right National Front party celebrated a fourfold increase in requests for membership on Thursday as a feud convulsed its main right-wing rival the UMP.
UMP leadership contenders accuse one another of fraud in an internal election and the party now risks a permanent split just months after it lost power, a potential gift for Socialist President Francois Hollande.
An opinion poll showed the anti-immigration National Front, which opposes the euro currency, could be an even bigger winner from the infighting.
What started as a dry affair that fascinated few beyond UMP ranks has become a daily soap opera that is making the party the object of ridicule.
"This is the funniest comedy of the year," movie director Luc Besson told a French newspaper. "Nobody would even dare write that for TV or cinema."
Right-wing daily Le Figaro called the squabbling "live suicide" on its front page this week and National Front leaders drew mocking parallels with the U.S. TV soap opera Dallas.
Marion Marechal-Le Pen, niece of National Front boss Marine Le Pen, said her party had enrolled 600 members a day over the past week, compared to around 150 per day previously. Many could have come from the UMP, she told LCI television.
The opinion poll published on Thursday made grim reading for the party that ruled Europe's second-biggest economy for a decade until Hollande defeated incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy in a May presidential election run-off.
Some 38 percent of respondents felt the National Front would be the biggest beneficiary of the UMP's squabbling, well ahead of Hollande's Socialists.
There is little sign that the acrimony will end soon, with leadership candidate Francois Fillon refusing to accept defeat to his rival Jean-Francois Cope in a recount that followed the disputed initial vote on November 18.
Cope is a disciple of Sarkozy with hardline views on immigration and religion. Fillon was a popular prime minister under Sarkozy and strikes a more urbane, reserved image.
Sarkozy, who led the UMP before his 2007-2012 presidential term, is "furious" over the infighting, according to long-time friends, and returned from semi-retirement this week to broker a truce.
The deal fell apart the morning after it was struck.
"THIRTY MADMEN"
Marine Le Pen scored nearly 18 percent of the vote in the first round of the presidential vote and Marion, granddaughter of party founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, became the first National Front member of the National Assembly since the mid-1980s.
They hope the economic crisis plaguing Europe and cutbacks planned to reduce a bloated state debt will push more poor and disenchanted voters their way and help the National Front gain ground in local elections set for 2014 and 2015.
Fillon has created a splinter group in the UMP called R-UMP (Rassemblement UMP). It was soon the butt of jokes on TV shows and Twitter because of the acronym's meaning in English.
A UMP member of parliament, Damien Meslot, is now calling for a grassroots revolt against "thirty madmen" at UMP headquarters in Paris.
Cope and Fillon have agreed to Sarkozy's latest request to hold a new election, but only if an internal referendum is held first to see if party members support yet another vote.
Another group is suggesting that a committee be set up to assess the merits of a referendum and a new election. Meslot proposes that UMP regional federations hold votes among 300,000 members to decide whether to hold another re-run.
(Reporting By Brian Love; Editing by Tom Pfeiffer)
World
Investing Simplified
France
Tweet this
Link this
Share this
Digg this
Email
Reprints
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (0)
Be the first to comment on reuters.com.
Add yours using the box above.
Edition:
U.S.
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Back to top
Reuters.com
Business
Markets
World
Politics
Technology
Opinion
Money
Pictures
Videos
Site Index
Legal
Bankruptcy Law
California Legal
New York Legal
Securities Law
Support & Contact
Support
Corrections
Connect with Reuters
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
RSS
Podcast
Newsletters
Mobile
About
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
AdChoices
Copyright
Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider
An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution
A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance
Our next generation legal research platform
Our global tax workstation
Thomsonreuters.com
About Thomson Reuters
Investor Relations
Careers
Contact Us
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.