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France's National Front expells Le Pen

August 20, 2015

Jean-Marie Le Pen, who founded the party in 1972, has been booted out in an ongoing battle over his racist and anti-Semitic remarks. The 87-year-old has vowed to fight the decision.

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Founder of France's Front National Jean-Marie Le Pen
Image: picture alliance/abaca/L. Liewig

Jean-Marie Le Pen, the man who founded France's far-right Front National (FN) four decades ago, was expelled as the party's honorary president on Thursday.

The FN's executive committee voted to have him removed after a party tribunal heard 15 complaints against him. Le Pen was questioned for several hours over inflammatory remarks he made on French TV.

Le Pen, who brought together several nationalist movements under one party in October 1972, had repeated several anti-Semitic and racist comments on BFM TV last spring, leading to public anger and lawsuits.

A brief statement from the party said the 87-year-old would be "notified shortly" of the decision.

Always a controversial figure, Le Pen's outspoken comments led to a high-profile feud with his daughter, Marine, who succeeded him as party leader in 2011.

Jean-Marie and Marine Le Pen
One seen as a great double-act, Marine Le Pen has tried to distance herself and the party from her father's inflammatory comments.Image: Reuters/R. Pratta

She has distanced herself from his bombastic style and has battled her father in court three times in a bid to oust him from the position. Each time, judges upheld his title as the party's honorary president for life.

While the party remains a divisive force in French politics, Marine Le Pen has also sought to steer the FN away from the overt racism of the past, describing her father's comments as “"political suicide."

Last month, 94 percent of Front National members said in a postal ballot that they wanted Le Pen senior stripped of his title.

But that decision was also overturned by a court, which ruled the ballot violated internal party rules.

Le Pen turned up for Thursday's three hour hearing and as he left the building afterwards said: “"I gave full explanations to those who had not always understood what was being said or what was being reported.”"

He also told them they had no right to expel him, vowing further legal action if they decided to proceed.

Frankreich Femen Protest bei le Pen Auftritt Maiparade
France's Front National has seen massive gains in voter popularity and its leader is twice as popular at President Francois HollandeImage: Thomas Samson/AFP/Getty Images

Marine Le Pen and her deputy Florian Philippot stayed away from the session to ensure "“total impartiality.”"

She plans to run for the French presidency in 2017 after large gains for the FN in recent national, regional and European elections.

In a sign of the depth of the bitter family feud, Le Pen senior told a French newspaper he wouldn't vote for his daughter.

mm/kms (AP, AFP, dpa)