: The bogeyman of French politics,Le Pen,bows out (News Feature)

By Ulrike Koltermann and Clare Byrne Jan 13, 2011, 12:35 GMT

Paris - Looking back on a career spanning over half a century as leader of France's far right, Jean Marie Le Pen feels he hasn't gone far wrong.

At his last press conference before bowing out as leader of the Front National this weekend, the 82-year-old bogeyman of French politics could only recall 'four or five slip-ups.'

Those 'slip-ups' include referring to the extermination of 6 million Jews by Nazi Germany as a 'detail of history' - a remark which earned the unrepentant Le Pen one in a string of convictions, ranging from assault as a young man to hate speech.

In a few days the most polarizing figure in France will hand over the Front National mantle to one of two candidates to succeed him - in all likelihood his daughter Marine, 42.

But the silver-haired politician has already let it be known that he will continue to gives his two cents worth from the sidelines.

Born the son of a fisherman in a seaside village in Brittany in 1928, in Le Pen has always had a taste for combat.

He started out in the military, in the French Foreign Legion, fighting independence movements in the then French colonies of Indochina and Algeria.

As a young man he had a sideline in selling recordings of martial music and historic speeches. For selling a recording of Nazi era songs, the cover of which declared that Adolf Hitler's rise to power was rooted in a democratic movement, he was convicted of the justification of war crimes.

In 1956, at the age of 28, Le Pen took up a seat in parliament with a now defunct right-wing populist party. He was the youngest member of the National Assembly at the time.

In 1972 he formed the Front National, of which he has been the emblem for nearly four decades.

In his first stab at the presidency in 1974 he mustered less than 1 per cent of the vote. But the FN vote crept steadily higher, reaching just under 17 per cent in the first round of presidential elections in 2002 - a cataclysmic score that saw Le Pen trump incumbent Socialist prime minister Lionel Jospin.

Many French people cringed at the prospect of a xenophobe leading the land of 'liberty, fraternity et equality' and rallied around Le Pen's conservative opponent, Jacques Chirac, in the presidential run-off, that Chirac subsequently won.

But Le Pen was bolstered by his strong showing, seeing in it a vindication of his brand of 'anti' politics: anti-immigrant, anti-globalization and anti-Europe.

While his remarks denigrating immigrants shock, his dire warnings of a Muslim 'invasion' of France and erosion of French sovereignty by the European Union appear to have struck a chord among a growing number of French.

Both left-wing and conservative parties have seen the Front National eat into their vote in recent elections.

Conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy appears particularly alarmed.

Analysts see in Sarkozy's increasingly hardline stance on immigration and security an attempt to woo Front National voters in his campaign for reelection next year.

Le Pen downplays the threat from Sarkozy. The French, he says, 'prefer the original to the copy.'

They also seem to prefer the heir to the founder of Le Pen's political franchise.

Opinion polls show that Marine Le Pen, a blonde lawyer and twice-divorced mother of three, who has vigorously campaigning for the job, increases the FN's appeal.

Le Pen has made no secret of his wish to see his daughter succeed him over his longtime aide, Bruno Gollnisch. Marine, for her part, appears to walk her father's walk on issues such as Muslim immigration - even if the rhetoric is softer.

The new leader will be unveiled at a party conference on Sunday.

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