France's Le Pen takes back party chief job; unclear if will stand as MP
Marine Le Pen, the far-right politician who lost her bid for
the French presidency a week ago, resumed her job as head of the National Front
(FN) on Monday but left followers guessing as to whether she will stand in the
coming parliamentary elections.
Steeve Briois, who took Le Pen's place as FN leader during
her unsuccessful presidential run-off contest against Emmanuel Macron on May 7,
welcomed her back to the helm of the anti-European Union, anti-immigration
party in a Twitter message.
The party was due on Monday to present its list of
candidates for parliamentary elections that take place in two rounds on June 11
and 18.
Le Pen secured 34 percent of the votes in the presidential
runoff vote versus 66 percent for the pro-EU Macron.
Asked whether le Pen would now stand for election as a
member of parliament in June, FN secretary general Nicolas Bay told a news
conference: "I won't announce anything today, it is for Marine Le Pen to
do that."
(Additional reporting by Brian Love; Editing by Richard
Balmforth and Ingrid Melander)
France's Le
Pen takes back party chief job; unclear if will stand as MP
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