A French court has ruled to ban far-right leader Marine Le Pen from holding any public office for the next five years, effective immediately. This represents a significant blow to Le Pen's presidential ambitions. While she can appeal Monday's ruling, the appeal will not suspend her ineligibility, potentially preventing her from running in the 2027 presidential election.
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04-02, 2025Le Pen left the high court in Paris without stopping to speak to reporters, getting straight into her car and leaving. The ruling could prevent her from running in the 2027 presidential race, a situation she had described as "political death." Only an appeal ruling overturning the ban from public office could restore her hopes of running. However, with only two years until the election, time is of the essence, and there is no guarantee that an appeals court will issue a more favorable ruling for her.
The verdict is a major setback for Le Pen and her party. In addition to finding her and eight other former members of the European Parliament guilty of misappropriating public funds, the court also convicted 12 other people who had served as parliamentary assistants to Le Pen and her current National Rally party, formerly known as the National Front. Judges stated that Le Pen was at the heart of a "system" used by her party to embezzle funds from the European Parliament. The judges added that Le Pen and her co-defendants did not personally enrich themselves, but the ruling described the misappropriation of funds as a "democratic detour" that defrauded the parliament and voters.
In the front row of the courtroom, Le Pen did not immediately react when the judge announced her guilty verdict, but she became increasingly agitated as the proceedings continued. She repeatedly shook her head in disagreement as the judge explained the verdict in more detail, saying Le Pen's party had illegally used European Parliament funds for its own benefit. "Unbelievable," she whispered at one point. The court sentenced Le Pen to two years of house arrest, but the political implications of disqualification from running for office dealt the biggest blow to her foreseeable political future.
The judge also issued guilty verdicts against eight other current or former members of her party who, like her, had previously served as members of the European Parliament. Le Pen and 24 other National Rally officials were accused of misusing funds earmarked for European Parliament assistants, paying the salaries of employees who worked for the party between 2004 and 2016, in violation of EU regulations. Le Pen and her co-defendants denied any wrongdoing. Le Pen has lost twice to President Emmanuel Macron in the 2017 and 2022 presidential elections, and her party has gained increasing voter support in recent years.
During the nine-week trial that concluded in late 2024, she argued that disqualification from running for office "would deprive me of the possibility of being a presidential candidate" and deprive her supporters of their rights. "There are 11 million people who voted for the movement I represent. So, tomorrow, there could be millions of French people who feel they have been deprived of a candidate in the elections," she told the panel of three judges. Le Pen's most likely natural successor in the 2027 election would be Jordan Bardella, her 29-year-old protégé who succeeded her as party leader in 2021.
Le Pen denied she was in charge of a system designed to misappropriate European Parliament funds to benefit her party, which she led from 2011 to 2021. She argued that it was acceptable to adjust the work of assistants paid by the European Parliament to the needs of members of parliament, including some political work related to the party. Hearings showed that some EU funds were used to pay for Le Pen's bodyguard (who used to be her father's bodyguard) and her personal assistant. Prosecutors had requested a two-year prison sentence and a five-year ban from running for office for Le Pen.
Le Pen said she felt they were "only interested" in preventing her from running for president.
