French far-right leader Marine Le Pen announced Friday that the National Front party, founded by her father nearly a half-century ago, will now be called the National Rally, a name change that reflects the party’s need to appeal to a broader range of voters ahead of next year’s European elections, reports The Seattle Times.
Le Pen all but kicked off the campaign for European parliamentary elections next year with the announcement, during which she also denounced the “arrogant tyranny” of the European Union and the “European oligarchy barricaded in Brussels.”
Under the new name, Le Pen’s goal is to rally people of all political stripes to a victory next year. The elections “can lead to a veritable European revolution,” she said at a meeting of the party’s political leadership outside Lyon.
The name change is a “historic moment in the life of our movement,” she said, unveiling a logo that puts its traditional flames inside a partially closed circle to signify new openness.
She originally announced the rebranding of the National Front at its March congress. Members were asked to vote by mail on the proposed new name. She said that National Rally was approved by nearly 81 percent of those who voted. However, only 53 percent of members cast a ballot.
Le Pen hopes that Italy’s populist government sworn in Friday — the first in western Europe — will boost her anti-immigration party’s fortunes. Matteo Salvini, the head of Italy’s right-wing League party, which joined in a government coalition with Italy’s anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, is a friend of Le Pen.
“Nothing will stop the return of the people to the stage of History!” she tweeted in a bravo.
The EU, she said in her Friday speech, “looks like a sinking boat.”
The National Front scored higher in 2014 European elections than any other French party.
But the profile of Le Pen, a nationalist once at the center of France’s political limelight, has dimmed since she was trounced by pro-globalist Emmanuel Macron in the presidential election a year ago.
Read more of this Associated Press report published by The Seattle Times.