Far-right Le Pen lays out 2022 plans

French far-right politician Marine Le Pen won reelection on Sunday as head of National Rally, or RN, at a party congress as she sought pushed ahead with a controversial new strategy aimed at boosting her chances in next year's presidential election.

The reelection came just a week after RN failed to win any seat in the French regional elections last month despite optimism suggested by various preelection polls.

Le Pen, 52, had no challenger in the two-day congress held in the southern French city of Perpignan. She received support from more than 98 percent of the members in online and postal ballots.

Jordan Bardella, 25, was appointed RN's first vice-president on Sunday. It will allow him to replace Le Pen as head of the party during her 2022 presidential race.

Le Pen and President Emmanuel Macron, who is representing the young centrist party of La Republique en Marche, or LREM, are regarded as major contenders for the presidential race. In 2017, Macron won the presidential race after winning 66.1 percent of the vote compared to Le Pen's 33.9 percent.

Like RN, LREM performed poorly in the regional elections, winning only 7 percent of second-round votes.

Despite the reelection, Le Pen has recently drawn sharp criticism from some members in her party for her effort to turn RN more mainstream. They warned that such an effort ignores the grassroots and could cost her votes in the next presidential race.

Some critics argued that she has erased RN's anti-establishment signature by trying to make it more palatable to the mainstream right.

Some local representatives, such as delegate Bruno Lerognon from the southern Herault region, have quit since the debacle in the regional elections.

In a letter to Le Pen posted on Facebook, Lerognon criticized the party leader's strategy to attract voters from other parties as "absurd".He complained that members of the party's local federation were "odiously treated"－removed from running in the regional elections in favor of outsiders.

Former far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen also hit out at his own daughter. "Either Marine Le Pen goes back to the basics on immigration and insecurity" with "a resumption of virility and clear positions" or the party will face "disappearance", he said on Wednesday.

'No going back'

"Either Marine Le Pen finds the tone of previous fights, or else she will gradually fade," said the 93-year-old. The older Le Pen founded the National Front, or FN, in 1972, and his daughter changed it to RN in 2018.

But Marine Le Pen told the party congress late on Sunday afternoon that "we will not go back". "With all due respect for our own history, we will not be returning to the National Front. We must continue to open up to all French people who do not wish to remain spectators," she said.

Le Pen's reelection also came two days after right-wing parties from 16 European Union member states signed a joint declaration on the future of Europe calling for deep reform of the EU. In the declaration, it stated that instead of protecting Europe and its heritage, the EU is itself becoming a problem and source of anxiety.

"European nations should be based on tradition, respect for the culture and history of European states, respect for Europe's Judeo-Christian heritage and the common values that unite our nations," read the declaration. "We reaffirm our belief that family is the basic unit of our nations. In a time when Europe is facing a serious demographic crisis with low birthrates and aging population, pro-family policymaking should be an answer instead of mass immigration."

Apart from Le Pen's RN, other parties signing the declaration include Poland's governing Law and Justice, Hungary's Fidesz, Austria's Freedom Party, Spain's Vox and Italy's League and Brothers of Italy.

Agencies contributed to the story.