|
| help-for-you News | . PRT23-2Article.html |  2 |
||||||||
| Note the UTC time and source of information. | ||||||||||
| . |
-News for Tue. 23 April & Wed. 24
April 2002 Le Pen to Attend European Parliament VOA News 24 Apr 2002 11:00 UTC  
Mr. Le Pen has been a member of parliament for many years, but he has rarely attended its debates. He is expected to outline his plans to pull France out of the European Union if he wins the French presidency. Tuesday French President Jacques Chirac said he would not agree to a televised debate with his rival. Mr. Le Pen called the president's refusal to debate him an intolerable and inadmissible attack on the rules of democracy. Televised election debates have been a French tradition for 30 years. President Chirac explained his decision, telling a cheering crowd that when faced with hatred and intolerance, no debate or compromise is possible. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in cities across France Tuesday in a third day of protests against Mr. Le Pen's electoral success. Mr. Le Pen - leader of the far right National Front Party - shocked France by winning 17 percent of the vote in Sunday's first round of presidential elections. He has long
been accused of anti-Semitism and once called Nazi gas chambers a mere "detail"
of history. Opinion polls show Mr. Chirac is favored to soundly defeat Mr. Le
Pen in the May 5 runoff vote. Some information for this report provided by AP.
|
|||||||||
