France Court Debars Marine Le Pen from 2027 Elections
Far-right RN leader Marine Le Pen (Image credit X.com)
French Court Convicts Marine Le Pen of Embezzlement, Barred from Public Office
By TRH News Desk
New Delhi, March 31: Far-right France leader Marine Le Pen stands debarred from contesting the 2027 elections. A Paris court convicted her of the charges of embezzlement of EU funds.
The conviction of popular French leader sent shock waves in parts of Europe. Ruling Italian leaders condemned the conviction of Le Pen. They charged that ruling French parties committed murder of democracy.
The conviction came amid fluid political situation in France. The fractured mandate of the last elections has weakened the control of French President Emanuel Macron.
Le Pen is the leader of France’s far-right National Rally (RN) party. She was accused of embezzling European Union funds. The Paris court handed over a sentence of four years term in jail.
The court also debarred Le Pen from holding a public office for five years. She, thus, stands debarred from the 2027 presidential elections. Le Pen has to serve two years under house arrest. Thus, she stands no chance to campaign for her party in the 2027 elections.
NPR reported that Le Pen has to pay a fine of €100,000 also. She and several RN members had been accused of misusing approximately €4.7 million of EU funds between 2004 and 2016. Associated Press in a report said that the funds were intended for parliamentary assistants, but the funds had been allegedly diverted to pay party staff. This constituted a significant breach of trust and misuse of public money, added AP in its report.
Le Pen in her defence had been maintaining that the charges against were “politically motivated”. Le Pen will challenge the conviction in higher courts, said local media reports. But the court sentence will come in force immediately to the chagrin of Le Pen and her followers.
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Cadena in a report stated that Le Pen’s protégé Jordan Bardella, may be the candidate of the RN party in the 2027 presidential election. Bardella is also the current president of the party. He slammed the conviction, saying per local media reports that “it represents an attack on French democracy”.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini reacted angrily to the court conviction of Le Pen. They charged that Le Pen as part of a conspiracy has been removed from active politics as she would have won the 2027 presidential election.
The RN party has been steadily rising in popularity amid the wave of anti-immigration in parts of Europe. Georgia Meloni in Italy is in power while riding an anti-immigration politics. Far-right political parties have also gained significant space in the UK and Germany in the recent elections.
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