French far-right leader Marine Le Pen sought to revive her flagging presidential campaign on Saturday, saying she was the only genuine opposition to the established parties whose policies would lead France into a Greek-style tragedy. Le Pen, who replaced her father as head of the National Front last year, has sought to broaden the appeal of the party beyond its traditional anti-immigrant constituency to attract a younger generation of voters.
She ranks third in opinion polls with just two months to go before the first round of the election on April 22. At one point in January she was just a couple of points behind conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy, but has fallen back in recent weeks. "The campaign has truly started," Le Pen told reporters at the start of the National Front's annual congress in the northern city of Lille. "We must kick out those parties that have brought us to our knees. I am the only opposition to the UMPS (Sarkozy's UMP and Francois Hollande's Socialist Party). Those are candidates of the (Greek) troika and we cannot turn to them."
Le Pen announced a raft of policies in January to balance France's books, including taxing imports, tapping the central bank for cheap loans instead of debt markets and giving French citizens priority over foreigners for jobs. Her anti-euro and protectionist stance has struck a chord, especially among working class voters disillusioned by economic hardship since the start of the global financial crisis. But most analysts deem her economic programme as not credible.
Le Pen criticised the troika - the International Monetary Fund, the European Union and the European Central Bank - which has demanded Greece impose austerity measures in return for bailout funds. "The troika unites the European Commission, the Central Bank and the IMF against the people," she said.
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