Valls: FN 'at the gates of power'

FRENCH prime minister Manuel Valls has caused a stir by suggesting that the far-right Front National were "at the gates of power" - with two weeks to go until the departmental elections.

In an interview at the weekend, Valls said the FN could achieve an "unprecedented score" and added: "I'm scared for my country."

He told iTélé that the FN could even win a presidential election "not in 2022, not in 2029, but in 2017".

An OpinionWay poll published last week gives the Front National a 29 per cent score in the first round of the forthcoming local ballot.

Valls said: "I am scared that my country will crack in the face of the Front National. Their political programme is a disaster for the country, it's ruin for the French."

Former presidential candidate Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, who leads the Debout la France party, said Valls was "overplaying" the danger of the FN. He said if the party does score well in the elections, Valls will have his own Socialist party to blame.

Ex-minister Rachida Dati, from the UMP party, said she was "very shocked" by Valls' comments, which she said would only help the FN grow.