French ambassador says he won't serve if Le Pen is president

French far-right leader and candidate for the presidential election Marine Le Pen touches a cow as she visits a farm in Cambes, central France, Saturday March 4, 2017. The two-round presidential election is set for April 23 and May 7 (Pascal Pavani, Pool via AP) (The Associated Press)

FILE - In this Nov. 7, 2015 file photo, French far-right leader Marine Le Pen hands out leaflets in a marketplace, in Arras northern France, as part of her municipal campaign. Ex-communists and others who converted from the political left are among those campaigning for far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in France’s presidential election. Her party is highlighting their switch of sides to push home its argument that traditional left-right politics are dead and to convince more voters to make a similar leap. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler, File) (The Associated Press)

PARIS – France's ambassador to Japan has said publicly that he would refuse to serve as a diplomat if Marine Le Pen were elected president.

The National Front shot back on Thursday saying that Ambassador Thierry Dana should anticipate Le Pen's coming victory in the April 23 and May 7 presidential votes, and "immediately leave public service."

The ambassador, in a commentary in Le Monde newspaper, sharply criticized Le Pen and her nationalist policies. He cited a Feb. 26 speech by Le Pen in Nantes in which she suggested that some civil servants were allegedly working against her, and said they could be held liable once the Socialist government is "swept away."