Why is Jean-Marie Le Pen laughing? Because the truculent, acid-tongued far-right leader sees himself as the real winner of France's parliamentary elections. The snap vote, called by Gaullist President Jacques Chirac in a disastrous blunder, not only ousted a center-right majority that Le Pen reviles, it also vastly increased the clout of Le Pen's anti-immigrant National Front, which polled nearly 15% in the first round of voting and played a decisive role in the June 1 runoff. Though only one party member was elected, because of the mechanics of France's majority voting system, the Front siphoned off enough support from the...
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