Le Pen sure he can trounce Chirac: Aide

But Bruno Gollnisch, Le Pen’s campaign director, said the National Front leader now thinks he can pull off another upset like that which put him in second place in the previous round. ‘‘It’s true. Over the last few days he has believed in it and we do as well,’’ Gollnisch said.

Le Pen himself told the weekend edition of Le Monde that ‘‘30 per cent of the votes would be a stinging defeat’’. ‘‘I am fighting for much more. I am aiming more at between 40 and 51 per cent, closer to 51 than 40.’’

Up to 200,000 protesters took to the streets of Paris and other French cities on Saturday to demand voters give Le Pen a resounding rebuff in the elections. The rallies followed a week of anti National Front protests involving up to 350,000 people throughout France.

(Reuters)