France: Front National wins election
01 November 1997
Six months before the regional and departmental elections in France, the Front National candidate Gerard Freulet has won a by-election in the industrial town of Mühlhausen, southern Alsace, with 53,6% of the vote. The candidate of the red-green coalition polled 46,3%. The majority vote system for the department's parliament had in the past prevented an election victory of the FN. However, FN politicians are already in the regional parliaments in Alsace which uses the proportional representation system. During the last general election in May 1997, 25% of Alsacian voters voted for the FN which achieved its nationwide best result here.
die tageszeitung, 30.9.97