France's Le Pen vows to restore 'rule of law' if elected
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has launched her presidential campaign with a promise to restore the rule of law amidst ongoing national protests. Her platform emphasizes national identity and security, capitalizing on public dissatisfaction with the current economic and social climate.
Why it matters
Le Pen's rise reflects broader European political shifts toward nationalist platforms in response to cost-of-living crises and social unrest.
Marine Le Pen, France's far-right candidate to succeed President Emmanuel Macron next year, vowed in her first campaign speech to "restore the rule of law" if elected next year.
Ms Le Pen - the frontrunner in the polls - seems to be benefitting from the unrest France has been going through for weeks, punctuated by mass cost-of-living rallies and some violent clashes yesterday and last week.
"We are going to restore the rule of law," she said, after looting and arson on the sidelines of demonstrations last weekend.
She was addressing 8,500 supporters of her nationalist, anti-immigration party in the city of Orléans, where Joan of Arc - revered by the far right as a symbol of national resistance - lifted an English siege in 1429.
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