Marine Le Pen proposes new name for national front

It must be approved by a mail vote of all party members in the coming weeks.

“The name National Front bears an epic and glorious history that no one must deny,” Le Pen told a cheering crowd at the end of the party’s annual congress in Lille. But she also said that for many in France the name was “a psychological brake” that kept them from joining the party or voting for its candidates.

Le Pen spoke a day after the surprise appearance of Steve Bannon, the former chief strategist for President Donald Trump, at a party congress. In a fiery speech Saturday, Bannon told party members to “let them call you racists” and praised the National Front for standing up to France’s political and economic establishment.

But Le Pen suggested in her speech that the name “National Front” was too reminiscent of the party’s early history as a radical fringe group. She said the party needed to woo voters outside its base and attract political allies, not antagonize them.

The National Front has struggled to remain visible in the French political landscape since the defeat of Le Pen by the centrist Emmanuel Macron in last year’s presidential election. The party also fared poorly in the legislative elections that followed.

“It must become clear to all that we have become a party intent on governing,” Le Pen said. “More than a project, this name must be a rallying cry, a call to join us.”

Le Pen has pursued a so-called “un-demonization” strategy since she was chosen in 2011 to lead the party, which was founded by her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, in 1972. Le Pen, who on Sunday was re-elected for a third term as the party’s president — she was the only candidate — has tried to move past the party’s racist and anti-Semitic roots.

Jean-Marie Le Pen, who was kicked out of the party by his daughter in 2015, recently called a name change “suicidal.” He did not attend the party congress, where a vote of party members stripped him of an honorary title he held.

Still, Marine Le Pen made clear that a new name would in no way change the party’s anti-immigration, anti-European Union and anti-globalization platform. In her speech, she railed against the “submersion” of immigrants and against “globalism and Islamism, two ideologies that want to dominate the world.”

“This is our home,” the crowd chanted after she said “legal and illegal immigration are no longer tenable.”

Although the National Front members gathered in Lille cheered and clapped at the announcement of a new name, it is unclear how the rank-and-file around the country will vote on it. In an earlier vote on changing the name, only a narrow majority of party members, 52 percent, approved the idea.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Marine Le Pen proposes new name for national front

Le Pen said party officials had agreed on Rassemblement National, which can be translated as National Rally or National Gathering, as the new name.

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