- Title: FRANCE: LE PEN URGES NO VOTE IN EU REFERENDUM.
- Date: 26th May 2005
- Summary: (W5)PARIS, FRANCE (MAY 25, 2005) (REUTERS) 1. GV: EXTERIOR OF ESPACE CHARENTON BUILDING IN THE 12TH DISTRICT OF PARIS 0.04 2. MV/CU: NATIONAL FRONT SUPPORTERS BUYING TICKETS TO GET IN (2 SHOTS) 0.18 3. GV: SUPPORTERS ENTERING THE MEETING ROOM 0.25 4. MV: STALL WITH YOUNG NATIONAL FRONT MILITANTS 0.30 5. MV/PAN: JEAN-MARIE LE PEN'S DAUGHTER, MARINE, CHATTING WITH MILITANT 0.39 6. (SOUNDBITE) (French) JEAN CLAUDE MARTINEZ, NATIONAL FRONT NUMBER 3 SAYING: "I think that the victory of the "No" will be good for France, for Europe and also for the world. We were able to see it during the Iraqi crisis, it was good to have France at the Security Council reminding everyone what justice was." 0.59 7. GV/PAN: MEETING ROOM, APPLAUSE 1.04 8. MV/CU/GV; NATIONAL FRONT LEADER JEAN-MARIE LE PEN ARRIVING ON PODIUM (5 SHOTS) 1.34 9. (SOUNDBITE) (French) NATIONAL FRONT LEADER JEAN-MARIE LE PEN SAYING: "We will certainly be the first ones to say "No" (on Sunday) but we will not be the last. After our victory on Sunday, I am convinced that the Netherlands three or four days later, will also say "No" and as a consequence it will be like dominoes and we will block this attempt to reduce European countries to servitude." 1.58 10. GV: APPLAUSE 2.03 11. (SOUNDBITE) (French) JEAN-MARIE LE PEN SAYING: "Even before the first poll, I said that the "No" feeling was already deep and heavy. It comes from deep inside the people, they have serious reasons not to believe anymore what the politicians are saying, especially when they (politicians) have been soiled by 30 years in power." 2.27 12. MV: LE PEN SPEAKING WITH MEDIA 2.32 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 10th June 2005 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: PARIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Reuters ID: LVA41S3T9GM4PXKD0DMZKL74QJOF
- Story Text: National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen urges his
troops to vote "No" to the referendum on the EU constitution
France has entered a frenetic last week of
campaigning ahead of next Sunday's referendum on the EU's
constitutional treaty, with polls continuing to point to a
"No" vote victory and a defeat for President Jacques Chirac
and other supporters of the text.
In a last ditch to persuade his supporters, National
Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen battled on Wednesday (May
25) in Paris at the Espace Charenton to win over the
skeptical voters who could determine the fate of the
charter in a cliff-hanger referendum on Sunday.
Since its bombastic leader Jean-Marie Le Pen caused one
of France's biggest political upsets by knocking the
Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin out of the first
round of the 2002 presidential elections, the party seems
to have slid back towards obscurity.
During the referendum campaign, by keeping a
deliberately low profile, Jean-Marie Le Pen hopes to avoid
pushing left-leaning voters into the "Yes" camp out of
distaste for his extreme anti-immigration views.
Le Pen hardly needs to do much to convince his own
supporters to reject the constitution, as most are already
fanatical euro-sceptics.
During his last meeting in Paris, Jean-Marie Le Pen has
estimated that the strong wave for the "No" was
irresistible.
"We will certainly be the first ones to say "No" (on
Sunday) but we will not be the last. After our victory on
Sunday, I am convinced that the Netherlands three or four
days later, will also say "No" and as a consequence it will
be like dominoes and we will block this attempt to reduce
European countries to servitude", said Jean-Marie Le Pen in
front of 2,000 sympathisers.
The latest French polls put the "No" camp on 54 percent
in France.
Le Pen was convinced that much before the first polls
there was a strong and deep "No" feeling among French
people.
"Even before the first poll, I said that the "No"
feeling was already deep and heavy. It comes from deep
inside the people, they have serious reasons not to believe
anymore what the politicians are saying, especially when
they (politicians) have been soiled by 30 years in power",
he added.
Jean-Marie Le Pen's daughter and senior advisor,
Marine, rallied the crowd on Wednesday night and claimed
there is panic in the "Yes" camp.
"If the "No" side wins on Sunday, it will be a
catastrophe for France, for Chirac, for everyone", said
Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker recently. His
country holds the rotating EU presidency.
Treaty opponents, driven by concerns ranging from
criticism of EU economic policies as too liberal to fears
about Turkey's EU membership bid, say a rejection would
bring positive changes.
Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin cautioned that
investment would suffer if French voters rejected the
charter.
Parliaments in seven countries have ratified the
charter --Austria, Lithuania, Hungaria, Slovenia, Italy,
Greece and Slovakia. Spain approved it in a referendum in
February.
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