HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK ---------------------------Le Pen's ex- mentor regrets rise of 'liar'
The Europe pages - Observer special
by Paul Webster in Paris
Sunday April 28, 2002
The Observer
The man who launched Jean-Marie Le Pen on to France's national political scene said yesterday that his early support for the racist demagogue was 'the worst thing' he had done in his life.
Pierre Poujade, the militant right-wing shopkeepers' leader and self-styled leader of the poujadists - a term revived in last year's British petrol blockades as an expression of political abuse - launched Le Pen's political career in 1956. Now Poujade has joined the growing ranks of National Front opponents after describing the racist politician as a liar.
Speaking from his country home against the background of one of the biggest protest marches since Le Pen won a place in the presidential run-off last Sunday, Poujade said his sponsorship of the National Front leader was 'the worst thing I did in my life. It would have been better if I'd broken my leg.'
Poujade, now 81, still runs the union of shopkeepers and craftsmen, the UDCA, which attracted 2.6 million voters and won 53 seats in the 1956 general elections before being swept aside on De Gaulle's return in 1958.
Among the union's MPs was Le Pen, a professional army officer, who became the country's youngest deputy at 27.
'He lied to me about his past, giving the impression that his father died in the resistance when he was blown up by a British mine in his fishing boat,' Poujade said. 'He also glorified his own army career. He now sits up there in his chateau at Saint-Cloud, spending the millions he got by heaven knows what means and does not represent or care about the little man. I will be voting Chirac next Sunday.'
Poujade's support adds to potentially the most diverse electorate any national leader has ever gathered. Chirac is likely to be returned to power next Sunday with a far bigger majority than the 55 per cent who backed De Gaulle in the first popular presidential election in 1965, François Mitterrand's first Elysée bid.
An opinion poll in yesterday's Le Parisien estimated a result of 77 per cent in Chirac's favour - but all polls underestimated the first-round National Front vote.
The latest demonstrations in Paris and other cities were organised by more than 80 human-rights groups, political parties, student movements and trade unions. The march was seen as a rehearsal for mass demonstrations on 1 May, when both the trade unions and the National Front hold traditional gatherings. Thousands of extra riot police are being drafted into the city to avoid a clash after Le Pen said he expected at least 100,000 of his supporters to attend a celebration of Joan of Arc.
The National Front leader, whose programme includes expelling immigrants and pulling out of the EU, has said that riots would help his cause, which is based on law and order and fed by public anxiety over urban crime.
·A political newcomer campaigning on an anti-immigrant platform could be a big winner in next month's Dutch general election. Party Pim Fortuyn - named after its leader - is tipped to win enough seats to join a centre-right coalition. Fortuynclaims the Netherlands is full and its borders should be shut, especially to Muslims.
http://www.observer.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,706577,00.html
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