Rachida Dati, mayor of the 7th disfranchisement in Paris. Photograph: Magali Delporte
Rachida Dati, a French centre-right MEP and former justice minister under President Nicolas Sarkozy, who now represents French people living in Britain, has appealed to voters to turn out in this week's elections to the European parliament to combat the threat of "ultra-violent, ultra-racist and populist" parties.
Opinion polls in France suggest the far-right Front National (FN) could win up to a quarter of votes and a record number of seats in the European parliament, with the opposition UMP in second place and the ruling Socialists trailing in third.
Dati, who is standing for re-election, told the Observer: "It's the level of abstention that worries me. Non-participation will be the key. If people don't go out and vote there's the risk that Europe speaks for no one, which raises questions about its legitimacy and that boosts extremes."
She added: "What we are seeing with the extremes across Europe is that they are not a homogeneous group. They are very different and they don't agree among themselves. Britain has its parties as does France and other countries. But if people don't vote, we risk having a bloc of extreme parties, some of whom are ultra-violent, ultra-racist and populist."
She said: "People are exasperated and disgusted with Europe, not by conviction but because of its caprices. They hear European officials saying 'well yes, we know you are suffering but you have to accept it's going to take another 10 years to get out of this' and they ask themselves what these people know about suffering.
"The politicians are seen as remote… they don't very often come into contact with voters. Even in France we have MEPs who are standing for the fifth time and French people haven't a clue who they are. These are people who consider they don't have to give an account of themselves to the electorate and so they don't. So we should not really be surprised if voters aren't interested in Europe or vote for extremes."
France's UMP party, which won a majority of seats in the 2009 European elections, is campaigning on a broadly conservative manifesto that calls for reform of the Schengen travel area (it opposes Romania and Bulgaria being part of it), tighter European borders to keep out EU and other immigrants and no further enlargement in general (or admission for Turkey in particular).
Sitting in her office in the wealthy 7th arrondissement of Paris, Dati said: "Campaigning is complicated. France is going through an extremely hard crisis, unemployment is rising daily. What advances can we offer the public?"
Dati's one-time cabinet colleague, the former prime minister François Fillon, warned that voting FN would bring France country nothing but "a detestable image". "Whether it's a national or an European election, if an extreme party wins, then it gives a detestable image of that country's political class."
Dati spoke as polls showed that a majority – 62% – of French people were "interested" in the elections, but that 75% thought they would "change nothing" in their country. She would like to see a complete overhaul of European institutions. "Brussels and its technocrats have been rejected by the French," she said recently.
She told the Observer: "We cannot throw the baby out with the bathwater. I'm a committed European and believe Europe is necessary for France and other nations in order to remain at the world table. "France is still the motor of Europe, as it should be given that the idea of Europe was French. But I consider the future of France's influence [in the world] depends on its presence in the European Union."
http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?id=HN.608005324553520612&pid=15.1&w=126&h=187&p=0
Opinion polls in France suggest the far-right Front National (FN) could win up to a quarter of votes and a record number of seats in the European parliament, with the opposition UMP in second place and the ruling Socialists trailing in third.
Dati, who is standing for re-election, told the Observer: "It's the level of abstention that worries me. Non-participation will be the key. If people don't go out and vote there's the risk that Europe speaks for no one, which raises questions about its legitimacy and that boosts extremes."
She added: "What we are seeing with the extremes across Europe is that they are not a homogeneous group. They are very different and they don't agree among themselves. Britain has its parties as does France and other countries. But if people don't vote, we risk having a bloc of extreme parties, some of whom are ultra-violent, ultra-racist and populist."
She said: "People are exasperated and disgusted with Europe, not by conviction but because of its caprices. They hear European officials saying 'well yes, we know you are suffering but you have to accept it's going to take another 10 years to get out of this' and they ask themselves what these people know about suffering.
"The politicians are seen as remote… they don't very often come into contact with voters. Even in France we have MEPs who are standing for the fifth time and French people haven't a clue who they are. These are people who consider they don't have to give an account of themselves to the electorate and so they don't. So we should not really be surprised if voters aren't interested in Europe or vote for extremes."
France's UMP party, which won a majority of seats in the 2009 European elections, is campaigning on a broadly conservative manifesto that calls for reform of the Schengen travel area (it opposes Romania and Bulgaria being part of it), tighter European borders to keep out EU and other immigrants and no further enlargement in general (or admission for Turkey in particular).
Sitting in her office in the wealthy 7th arrondissement of Paris, Dati said: "Campaigning is complicated. France is going through an extremely hard crisis, unemployment is rising daily. What advances can we offer the public?"
Dati's one-time cabinet colleague, the former prime minister François Fillon, warned that voting FN would bring France country nothing but "a detestable image". "Whether it's a national or an European election, if an extreme party wins, then it gives a detestable image of that country's political class."
Dati spoke as polls showed that a majority – 62% – of French people were "interested" in the elections, but that 75% thought they would "change nothing" in their country. She would like to see a complete overhaul of European institutions. "Brussels and its technocrats have been rejected by the French," she said recently.
She told the Observer: "We cannot throw the baby out with the bathwater. I'm a committed European and believe Europe is necessary for France and other nations in order to remain at the world table. "France is still the motor of Europe, as it should be given that the idea of Europe was French. But I consider the future of France's influence [in the world] depends on its presence in the European Union."
http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?id=HN.608005324553520612&pid=15.1&w=126&h=187&p=0
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