Marine Le Pen's replacement turns down party role amid Holocaust controversy

Paris: The man designated to replace French presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen as head of the far-right National Front party has refused the job and will focus on defending himself against allegations he made questionable comments about the Holocaust, National Front member Louis Aliot said on Friday.

Aliot, Marine Le Pen`s partner in private life, announced the decision in a television interview with BFM TV, saying Jean-Francois Jalkh, a hitherto little-known vice-president of the party, did not want to take up the post in the current climate.

Days from the May 7 presidential ballot where Marine Le Pen faces off against Emmanuel Macron, Alio said Jalkh would file a legal complaint over what he called totally unfounded accusations of ambiguous stances on the mass killing of Jews during World War Two.