France's far-right leader Le Pen announces bid for 2022 presidential election

Marine Le Pen, leader of France's far-right "National Rally" (RN) party, announced on Thursday that she will run for president in 2022.

In her New Year greetings message to the media, Le Pen said her candidacy to the upcoming presidential elections was "no doubt."

"... My project is to move towards ...national unity... a great unifying project that can bring together the French wherever they come from, a great project to get the country back on its feet," she told the gathering.

"The deep reasons of this decision to be a candidate do not cast any doubt on my will to win," she said, adding "Emmanuel Macron himself launched the campaign, I will not let him run alone."

To officially represent the anti-immigrant and nationalist party in the next race to the Elysee Palace, the 51-year-old lawyer needs the RN to validate her candidacy during its congress in 2021.

Le Pen, the youngest daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of the far-right party previously named as National Front (FN), was defeated by Macron in 2017 with 66.1 percent of the vote against 33.9 percent.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)