Embroiled in a bitter feud with his daughter Marine who now runs the FN, Le Pen announced last week he was taking legal action to try and prevent the party from changing its statutes and scrapping his post.

This is a second victory for the 87-year-old party founder, whose suspension from the party in May was overturned by a court last week.

Le Pen was evicted over a string of controversial remarks that led to a vicious row with his daughter, whom he publicly disowned.

Marine decided enough was enough after her father repeated his view that the Nazi gas chambers were merely a "detail" of history and also claimed France had to get along with Russia to save the "white world".

But a court ordered her to restore his membership as his suspension had "violated statutory rules".

Marine brushed off that decision as a "Pyrrhic victory" for her father ahead of this week's vote which was expected to strip him of his honorary presidency.

bbabo.Net