The French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has faced a significant political setback as a court has ruled to bar her from running for president in 2027. This landmark decision came after the court found her guilty of a substantial embezzlement scheme involving European Parliament funds, effectively banning her from holding any public office immediately. For Le Pen, the leader of the National Rally (RN) party, this ruling is akin to a political earthquake, shattering her aspirations for a fourth presidential campaign.
At 56 years old, Le Pen expressed her dismay before the verdict, stating that an immediate ban would equate to a “political death sentence.” She emphasized the grave implications of the judges' decision, who she claimed wielded “the power of life or death over our movement.” Following the ruling, it is expected that she will promptly appeal the verdict, but the ban will remain in effect even during the appeal process.
The court imposed a five-year ban on Le Pen from running for any public office, which will take immediate effect. In addition to this ban, she was sentenced to four years in prison, with two years suspended and the remaining two years to be served outside of jail while wearing an electronic monitoring device. Furthermore, Le Pen was fined €100,000 (approximately £84,000). However, both the prison sentence and the fine will not be enforced until her appeals are fully resolved.
Following the ruling, Le Pen did not provide an immediate comment. However, her close ally and RN president, Jordan Bardella, declared, “Today it is not only Marine Le Pen who was unjustly condemned: It was French democracy that was killed.” This statement underscores the far-reaching implications the ruling could have on the political landscape in France.
Le Pen, along with 24 other party members, including nine former members of the European Parliament and twelve parliamentary assistants, was found guilty of orchestrating a vast scheme to embezzle European Parliament funds. This system involved misappropriating funds intended for parliamentary assistants to instead pay party workers in France. The court identified this as a “fake jobs system,” which spanned from 2004 to 2016 and was unprecedented in its scale and duration, resulting in a staggering loss of €4.5 million to European taxpayers.
The court emphasized that assistants compensated by the European Parliament are required to work directly on parliamentary matters in Strasbourg, a condition that the judges determined had not been met in this case.
Despite the ruling, Le Pen will retain her position as a member of the French parliament for Pas-de-Calais. However, she will be unable to stand for reelection during the duration of her ban. Le Pen has previously run for the French presidency three times, having reached the final run-off against Emmanuel Macron on two occasions. Her National Rally party recently emerged as the largest party in parliament following the 2024 snap elections, leading her to believe she had a strong chance of winning the Élysée in 2027 on an anti-immigration platform.
In her defense during the trial last month, Le Pen maintained her innocence, stating, “I have absolutely no sense of having committed the slightest irregularity, or the slightest illegal act.” As the political landscape in France continues to evolve, the implications of this court ruling will be closely watched by supporters and critics alike.
