MARSEILLE (dpa) – France's far-right leader Marine Le Pen said Sunday she would crack down on crime in high-rise suburbs and make it far harder for immigrants to obtain French citizenship if she were elected president. Addressing a rally of over 3,000 supporters in Marseille, Le Pen accused incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy of having broken his promises to the French, including his promise to clean up troubled neighborhoods. “Where's the Karcher?” she asked, referring to Sarkozy's promise as interior minister in 2005 to take a Karcher power hose to the high-rise suburbs mostly populated by minorities. Marseille has been gripped by a rise in violent crime in recent months. In the first half of 2011, departmental authorities recorded a 40-per-cent increase in armed robbery and a 9-per-cent increase in murders. In the past three days alone, three people have been gunned down in apparent revenge attacks. “Marseille has become a sad symbol of the terrible failure of Nicolas Sarkozy on security,” she told the crowd, which cheered “Marine, president” and ordered Sarkozy to “degage” (get lost). Le Pen, who is running third in opinion polls, behind Socialist frontrunner Francois Hollande and Sarkozy, said she would “take back every square meter” of the city from criminals. Her proposed “zero tolerance” policy would see “foreign delinquents” deported to their country of origin and put an end to the practice of releasing prisoners early on good behavior. Le Pen also slammed what she called France's “human rights-style” approach to immigration. The “imposition” by immigrants of their customs, traditional dress and food was “beginning to look like provocation and arrogance,” she said, promising to put the onus on immigrants to adapt to France rather than the other way around. Marseille, a city with high rates of immigration and unemployment, is a bastion of National Front support. The Front came second in each of the Marseille's 11 cantons in last year's local elections. Sunday's rally comes as the clock ticks down for Le Pen to secure the 500 signatures from elected officials she needs to run for president. On Thursday she said that she was 48 signatures short of the tally. She must reach 500 by a March 15 deadline. Le Pen's critics accuse her of overstating her difficulties in obtaining the signatures in order to play up her anti-establishment credentials. Her father, former party leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, also used to complain of his difficulty in securing the endorsements, which are used to weed out crank candidacies. He nonetheless managed to be on the ballot in five elections. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/DmcF0 Tags: Anti Immigrant, French candidate, Ghetto, Le Pen Section: Europe, Latest News, Women
