MOSCOW, September 7 (RIA Novosti) - Marine Le Pen, leader of the conservative Front National, would win the first round of a presidential election in France, according to a poll released Sunday, The Telegraph reports.
If an election were held next Sunday, Le Pen, who made major gains in recent local election, would score a landslide victory against Francois Hollande, whose approval rating hit a record low of 13 percent in August. The survey found that she would take 30 percent of the vote as Holland would take only 16 percent. Le Pen would also led several other center right politicians, including former Premiers Alain Juppé and Francois Fillon. She would even defeat ex-president Nikolas Sarkozy, with 28 percent of the vote to his 25 percent, according to the poll. However the projections found that Le Pen would win a second round only if her rival was Hollande.
Commentators say Le Pen is taking electoral advantage of France’s weak and feuding mainstream parties. The ruling Socialist Party is in total disarray and the center right opposition Union for a Popular Movement has no leader.
In a recent interview with Le Monde, Le Pen called for parliament to be dissolved and said she would be willing to become prime minister, "cohabitating" with president Hollande.
