MArch 31 will one day be terrible for Marine Le Pen – and good for French democracy.
A French court said on Monday Le Pen on Monday and more than 20 officials from the National Rally of the Far Right (RN) of France guilty in a system of embezzlement of sprawling funds which, according to prosecutors, involved siphoning 2.9 million euros ($ 3.1 million) in EU funds over a decade. The judges applied French law as written: they prohibited the nine politicians involved in presenting themselves in the elections of three to five years. And judge President Bénédicte de Perthus explained clearly why the court decided to apply the condition of automatic ineligibility to the leader of the plot Le Pen: the gravity of the case coupled with the long -standing refusal of the RN to take the allegations seriously suggested that the part on the far right was at risk of repeated offense.
The message was clear: no one is above the law, not even a popular presidential competitor that was held at the gates of power.
The verdict considerably complicates Le Pen’s chances of standing during the presidential election of 2027, to say nothing about the four years with which it is confronted (two suspension and two which could be served in interior residence). But despite his claims to be targeted to abuse public funds, his case is not so unique. Former president Jacques Chirac and former Prime Minister Alain Juppé were both guilty for similar cases, while former president Nicolas Sarkozy was also sentenced to corruption and influence. And following new laws in 2016 and 2017, the French courts systematically prohibited politicians found guilty of corruption of their candidacy. Like everyone, Le Pen retains the right to appeal.
The Temer -Tantrum of the RN – The pen came out of the court before the complete verdict – is rich in a party which likes to paint itself as hard with crime. And as many observers have noted in France, he feels hypocrisy. In 2013, Le Pen herself called for all politicians found guilty of having misused public funds to be prohibited from presenting themselves to the elections life.
But more generally, those who complain about the verdict should ask themselves the following: is it a sign of democratic vitality to allow political corruption to remain unpunished? Or should elected officials be held responsible when they are found guilty of having violated the law?
Political spinoffs The conviction of Le Pen will take place in the coming months. But at this point, it seems right to say the evidence. Le Pen’s conviction does not necessarily reduce the chances that his party won the next presidential election.
While the supporters of Le Pen of Maga-World can consider it as the French Donald Trump, this point of view is fundamentally ill-read the source of the popularity of the RN. The party strength has less to do with a cult personality around its leader than the traditional appeal of its platform. It is the product of ideological victories that are years in the making – and they will not disappear without it.
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In fact, the SNAP legislative elections of last year were a main demonstration of the capacity of the information indexation to excel without Le Pen. Its name appeared only once on the ballot – in its parliamentary district in the north of France – but that did not prevent millions of people from approving the anti -establishment and anti -immigrant message of the RN across the country. The detailed opinion polls revealed the impressive scope of the Party electorate, extending from the electors of the working class unhappy to the radicalized conservatives of the upper middle class abandoning the dominant law en masse.
The traditional Th RN success also arises from an increasingly sympathetic media landscape. Following the traces of Rupert Murdoch, the billionaire Vincent Bolloré built a powerful media empire in the service of a right program. Its properties like the newspaper The DIDANCE JOURNAL,, radio network Europe 1And the CNews television channel (now the 24 -hour information network in France) pump right -wing content daily, devoting disproportionate attention to crime, immigration and Islam. And of course, journalists, panelists and interview subjects at the Bolloré outlets were quick to denounce the verdict.
Like the Republican Party in the United States, the RN of France also benefits from the weakness of its rivals. Politicians associated with President Emmanuel Macron will fight a difficult battle to overcome his largely unpopular heritage and palpable anger against holders around the world. Under the presidency of Macron, the French authorities did not respond to the concerns of voters concerning the increase in the cost of living or to meet the relatively high expectations of the public towards public services. His style of descending governance has further complicated the questions.
And despite uniting their forces last summer to win more seats in the National Assembly than any other coalition, the left parties in France are again divided on minor differences and competing strategies during the next presidential election. These divisions were even visible in their reactions to the sentence of the PEN. While the leaders of the Greens, the Socialists and the Communists all applauded the decision, Jean-Luc Mélenchon of the left populist France is rebellious said he disagreed with the principle of courts preventing politicians from presenting themselves to the elections.
Of course, the RN has another enormous advantage. If Le Pen exhausts the call process and cannot really run for the presidency in 2027, the party already has an obvious candidate pending to Jordan Bardella. Prepared to stand in the elections, the 29 -year -old president of the party can already count on the support of the RN base. And if anything, the absence of the controversial family name Le Pen is a plus for the rest of the French electorate. Although Bardella lacks experience, expertise and mastery of hands -on subjects, these are not such defects in today’s climate.
In the end, the RN will always have to be politically defeated in one way or another – with Le Pen. And it will not be an easy task for his opponents. But criticism of the RN’s indexation with regard to the verdict – and calls for national demonstrations – is a reminder of what is at stake in France. Like the Kremlin, Trump and Viktor Orbán of Hungary who have all joined the defense of AI, the party shares a deep distrust for the rule of law – and a healthy democratic society should be able to reject it to the polls.
