Jean-Marie Le Pen slams daughter Marine as 'unfit' for President

The family feud between the far-right Front National leader, Marine Le Pen, and her father, Jean-Marie, deepend this weekend, with the latter saying his daughter is 'neither ethically nor politically' qualified to run for the presidency in 2017.

Family fued between Jean-Marie Le Pen and daughter Marine, creates tensions within the Front National party AFP PHOTO / JEAN-SEBASTIEN EVRARD / ALAIN JOCARD

In an interview published in Sunday paper Journal du Dimanche, Jean-Marie Le Pen threw a fresh punch at his daughter Marine, saying she was "sawing off the branch on which she's sitting."

That branch is of course the National Front party he founded in 1972, and which he says his daughter is destroying, through her attempts to clean up the party's image.

The far-right patriarch, 87, was suspended from the FN in April over inflammatory comments he made belittling the Holocaust and lauding the Nazi-collaborationist Vichy regime.

On Sunday, he spoke of his "betrayal" at Marine Le Pen's rejection of the party's fundamental values and said "if she contines down the same route, he will not vote for her in two year's time."

He left open the possibility that he might lead a dissident far-right campaign in the south of France in regional elections in December.

Le Pen senior, still honorary president of the far right party, will have to go before the executive bureau on August 20, which will decide on his possible exclusion.

It comes after his suspension last month was overturned following a legal challenge. He also successfully opposed through the courts an attempt by his daughter, 47, to abolish his status as honorary President.

Le Pen initially protested that it was “scandalous” that he should be ordered to break his August holidays to appear before the executive bureau.

Now he says, however, that he will go along to force Marine Le Pen and the other bureau members to “look (him) in the eyes.”

Jean-Marie Le Pen has been very critical of the party's management since his daughter started the process of "de-demonising" the National Front, with the help of her number two, Florian Philippot.

She is “neither ethically nor politically” qualified to run for the presidency in 2017, he was quoted as saying. Le Pen holds Philippot-who he's made no secrecy of disliking- responsible for his daughter's misguidance, saying the “evil genius” was keeping her “prisoner.”