Marine Le Pen, the far-right presidential candidate, has formally launched a campaign echoing many of the themes that propelled Donald Trump to the White House.
HIGHLIGHTS: LE PEN'S COMMITMENTS
- Six months to renegotiate the EU or go for "Frexit"
- Leave the Euro
- Reject international trade treaties
- Tax employers who hire foreigners
- Boost security defence
- Expel foreigners who have been condemned in court
- Close all mosques suspected of "radical Islam" links
- Expel foreigners monitored by intelligence for "radical Islam" links
- Slash immigration, curb asylum requests
- Allow referendums on issues called for by 500,000 people
- 10 percent income tax cut on low earners
Addressing hundreds of supporters on Sunday at the close of her National Front gathering in Lyon, staunchly anti-immigrant Le Pen stated that the recent US election of Donald Trump and Britain's vote to leave the European Union had given the French a "reason to vote".
Envisioning a thriving nation "made in France", 48-year-old Le Pen stated that she is the "people's candidate" as she outlined her aspirations for a state with its own borders to guard, its own currency to spend, its own defence and its identity unchanged by immigrants, refugees and globalisation.
A leader in early polls for the April 23 and May 7 elections, Le Pen drew loud cheers of support when she stated that Islam is "not compatible with French values", before concluding that France was threatened by twin "totalitarianisms"economic globalisation and "Islamic fundamentalism".
Al Jazeera's Natacha Butler, reporting from Lyon, said: "Le Pen is promising to favour French citizens in areas such as social housing and education. Le Pen's message here is really that France is being destoyed by immigration, by globalisation, and that she's the person to fix it.
"She says she wants to give France back to the French. She's certainly presenting herself as the anti-elite, anti-establishment candidate and feels the climate is favourable to that after Donald Trump in the United States, and Brexit."
Turning to the EU, she said she wanted to "release France from the tyranny" of Brussels. If the other members of the bloc refused to accept large-scale reforms, she vowed to call a referendum on membership within six months of taking office.
On Saturday, Le Pen published a list of 144 "commitments" built around putting France first.
This is Le Pen's second bid at the presidency after placing third in 2012.
Fillon's fake jobs scandal
The candidate just two weeks ago considered the most likely to beat Le Pen and win, former conservative Prime Minister Francois Fillon, has seen his support plummet as French prosecutors investigate possibly fictitious parliamentary aide jobs once held by his wife and two children.
Polls suggest Le Pen is likely to pass the first round "comfortably", added a News Media a News Media correspondent. "But in the second round voters might be more likely to [choose] her rival [Fillon], who is more mainstream."
Conservative MPs visited their constituencies this weekend to stem the damage surrounding Fillon.
Former budget minister Emmanuel Macron, who rebelled against the Socialist Party to strike out on his own, could end up facing Le Pen in the second-round vote.
Macron, a former investment banker, held on Sunday a major rally in the southeastern city of Lyon, thanking crowds for their "enthusiasm".
Also running for the French presidency are leftists Jean-Luc Melenchon and Benoit Hamon.
Renaud Girard, a French journalist, told Al Jazeera: "Marine Le Pen does not have any ally. When the left comes to power in France, it's because it has made an alliance with the far left. But in France, the right and the far right do not agree to make an alliance .... I don't see for the time being Le Pen being able to find a support in the right.
Fillon and Macron, Girard said, were more likely to form alliances that could propel them in the final round of voting.
Aljazeera