French far-right leader Le Pen wins enough support to stand in election PARIS, March 13 (Xinhua) -- French far-right leader Marine Le Pen ...

French far-right leader Le Pen wins enough support to stand in election

PARIS, March 13 (Xinhua) -- French far-right leader Marine Le Pen on Tuesday said she secured enough support of elected officials to be a candidate in 2012 presidential election.

Heading the anti-immigration National Front party, Le Pen cleared the way to the Elysee Palace as she gathered 500 signatures from local mayors and other elected officials before the deadline of March 16, reviving memories of 2002 when Jean-Marie Le Pen, then president of FN, eliminated the socialist candidate Lionel Jospin and challenged Jacques Chirac in the final vote.

"I'll be a candidate for the presidential election. The system tried to prevent me but it lost the battle," Le Pen said on twitter.

Describing Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande as the candidates of "globalization, immigration and insecurity", the 43-year-old lawyer portrayed herself as the credible voice to secure secularism and French identity by toughening citizenship requirements, shutting borders and forbidding foreigners from access to any social aid.

Local reports said an eventual Le Pen failure to win the endorsement would help Sarkozy to entice the far rightists voters expected to shift their support to the conservative UMP candidate following his pledges of tough control of immigration and protection of secular values of the French identity.

An ifop survey published on Tuesday projected Le Pen getting 16 percent of votes in the first round of the election.