Complete Statement of Jean-Marie Le Pen
Link to statement in French
PARIS (AP) - Here is the complete statement of Jean-Marie Le Pen, Sunday at 9:00 p.m. from his campaign headquarters:
"French women, French men, my dear compatriots of France and Overseas,
"At the end of this second round of the presidential election, I thank from the bottom of my heart the millions of voters who have cast their ballots for my candidacy, the only opposition to the system.
"By so doing, they have shown an extraordinary capacity of resistance in the face of a veritable campaign of hysteria, orchestrated by all of the prevailing powers, politicians, financiers, media barons, unions, all co-responsible for the dramatic situation of our county, all united in the defense of their privileges.
"The result of the first round, a veritable earthquake, was by itself a great victory, since it involved the defeat of the Socialist Prime Minister, the resulting humiliation of the outgoing President who received less than 20% of the votes and a 30% abstention rate, the crushing defeat of the Communist Party with 3.3%, a strong push for the candidate of the national movement who was not derailed by the candidature of the president of the MNR. [Bruno Megret, the candidate of the National Republican Movement, which broke away from Le Pen's National Front.]
"Tonight, the results that I have obtained are equally remarkable. It makes us the premier French political force and permits us to establish in the short and medium term the greatest hopes, in particular for the legislative elections. [Next month.] It is above all the signal that the re-conquest is underway.
"It is necessary to say tonight - but you have been shown the proof - that the political conditions in which have developed in the second round were those of a totalitarian country. It is very clearly apparent that the self-appointed representatives of our Republic have no democracy, only the mask.
"As a matter of fact, nothing was missed in the diabolization of my candidacy, either the multiple attempts at intimidation, false characterizations of my program and person, constant cynical violations of the law requiring equal air time for the candidates and their supporters, refusal of my opponent to debate with me while encouraging or approving demonstrations, even including school children.
"I adjure my countrymen to ask themselves in the secrecy of their conscience, when all this agitation abates: in what way has Le Pen threatened the Republic, he who has never done anything other than present himself before the voters of his country? Is it Jean-Marie Le Pen who is responsible for the crime wave, for inflation, for taxation, the waste, the corruption, the excessive immigration and the ruination of our workers?
"It is the defenders of the system who run France so badly but who ferociously defend their interests, even the most immoral, as one has just seen with vividness. It is those who have rallied behind the outgoing Chief of State, who only yesterday they considered having lost his reputation.
"But these alliances of circumstance can not eternally betray the French. Today, a new cleavage has appeared between the people and the syndicate of failure.
"I am the only one to embody change in the country. We are, in effect, the principal political force in France and we call on the French to join us and to first to become engaged in the legislative battle which will give us representatives in the national assembly.
"It is because I am making an appointment on the 9th and 16th of next June with those who have voted for me in the first and second rounds of this election and with those who will rejoin them, in order to make their voices heard, the voice of the French excluded, ridiculed, bruised, but also the rising voice of the nation and of the renaissance of the homeland in a rediscovered France.
"Long live the Republic!
"Long live France!"
Link to Le Pen's First Round
Victory Speech and January Speech on Immigration and Sovereignty
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