“Je Suis Marine”: Lawfare Bars Le Pen From 2027 Presidential Bid

If the Spanish Reds are trying to restart the Civil War, it's beginning to look like the Left in France is trying to go for Revolution number four!

From The European Conservative

By Tamás Orbán

“Today, it is not only Marine Le Pen who is being unjustly condemned: it is French democracy that is being executed,” National Rally Chairman Jordan Bardella concluded.

In a move reminiscent of all that’s been going on in Romania, Germany, and elsewhere in Western ‘democracies’, on Monday, March 31st, a Paris court found Marine Le Pen—the leader of France’s largest and most popular party, the National Rally—guilty of misappropriation of public funds along with eight other MPs, charges that the party has been consistently denying.

For Le Pen, prosecutors originally asked for five years in prison, €300,000 in fines, and well as five years of ineligibility for holding or running for public office. 

In the end, the court sentenced the party leader and likely 2027 frontrunner to four years in prison (two compulsory and two suspended), €100,000 in fines, and the full five years of ineligibility, which is to be executed immediately, even before she can appeal.

With this, Le Pen is barred from entering the 2027 presidential race—the one she is projected to win, after reaching second place in 2017 and 2022.

Another co-defendant, Perpignan mayor and National Rally Vice President Louis Aliot, was sentenced to six months in prison and three years of ineligibility, but not immediately executed, which means he can keep his position during the appeals process.

The party itself was also fined an unprecedented €2 million, including the €1million already seized during the investigation.

The National Rally is accused of ‘embezzling’ up to €6.8 million from EU funds meant to pay European Parliamentary assistants, who were found to have engaged in domestic activities as well as working in Brussels. Le Pen’s defense appealed to common sense throughout the trial, saying EU parliamentary rules do not precisely define the scope of tasks allowed for assistants, and since appearing in their home countries is an “integral part” of the work of MEPs, their assistants should also be able to help their work back home too. 

Despite the absurdity of the charges, the court apparently took the ‘maximalist option,’ clearly intended to strip Le Pen of the ability to run for president. The move immediately split France in half and will likely trigger widespread protests in the coming days and weeks. As National Rally President Jordan Bardella wrote:

Today, it is not only Marine Le Pen who is being unjustly condemned: it is French democracy that is being executed.

The obvious lawfare was questioned even by some mainstream political figures, such as the center-right Republican leader Eric Ciotti, who wrote “Is France still a democracy?” in an X post. He then went on in a second post:

The democratic destiny of our nation has been confiscated by an unworthy judicial cabal. The favorite candidate in the presidential election was prevented from running. 

This is not a simple malfunction, it is a system of power capture that systematically excludes any candidate too far to the right who is capable of winning

Le Pen’s international allies also took to social media to condemn the move and express support for Le Pen. 

Italy’s deputy PM, Matteo Salvini—who also had his fair share of lawfare until being acquitted of bogus charges late last year—called the verdict “a declaration of war from Brussels” against national conservatives, and likened the situation to Romania, where the EU also had a hand in canceling last year’s election and banning the nationalist frontrunner.

Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán referenced the social support movement for the Charlie Hebdo victims by stating on X “Je suis Marine” (‘I am Marine’), while Dutch PVV leader Geert Wilders said he “trust[s] she will win the appeal and become President of France.”

The right-wing populist National Rally is the largest party in the French parliament, and currently polling at 32%, ahead of the joint leftist electoral coalition New Popular Front (26%) as well as Macron’s liberal centrist Ensemble coalition (23%).

As for presidential polling, Le Pen has been confidently leading in first-round voting intentions with 38%, far ahead of the runners-up, former prime ministers Edouard Philippe (26%) and Gabriel Attal (20%). In late last year, 61% of respondents in France said they believed that Le Pen would become the next president, regardless of whether they support her.

However, if Le Pen’s appeal is rejected and the ban is upheld, the National Rally will need to look for a replacement. The most likely candidate is the party president, Jordan Bardella, who still polls at first place in this hypothetical scenario, although with slightly lesser numbers (34%). The problem is that at 29, Bardella may be considered too young to win the second round, and the party has always planned for him to become prime minister eventually.