A Paris appeals court was yesterday to rule on former French far-right leader Marine Le Pen’s eligibility to stand in the next presidential election.
The verdict was to be delivered from 1:30pm and could take several hours to read. It could reshape next year’s contest to replace French President Emmanuel Macron if it forces the popular Le Pen out of the picture. The constitution prevents Macron from seeking a third consecutive term.
Le Pen, 57, is appealing a conviction in March last year that found her and other members of her National Rally party guilty of misusing European Parliament funds by paying party staff with money intended for EU parliamentary assistants between 2004 and 2016.
Photo: Bloomberg
The lower court sentenced her to prison time, suspended pending appeal and imposed a five-year ban on holding elected office.
Le Pen has denied any wrongdoing and still hopes to mount a fourth bid for the presidency. However, a verdict that upholds a lengthy ban could make that impossible and suspend her career that has transformed the National Rally into a major political force.
Such a verdict could also reverberate on the EU, by sidelining a fierce critic of the 27-nation bloc.
If she is barred, her protege Jordan Bardella would replace her. Bardella, 30, is the president of the anti-immigration, EU-skeptic National Rally.
Other outcomes are also possible. The appeals court could still find Le Pen guilty, but reduce the ban on holding elected office to two years or less — or impose no ban at all.
A ban of two years or less would expire before the first round of the French presidential election, scheduled in April. However, that does not automatically mean Le Pen would run. She has said that if the court imposes other constraints that make campaigning difficult, she might decide not to run. That could include any prison sentence, electronic monitoring or other judicial restrictions.
“If I’m allowed to be a candidate, but am effectively prevented from campaigning freely, then you understand that wouldn’t be possible,” Le Pen said in an interview last week.
Prosecutors asked the appeals court to sentence Le Pen to four years in prison, including three suspended, in addition to a ban on holding elected office for five years.
They accused Le Pen of being at the head of a “system” meant to “siphon off” EU public funds to the benefit of her party.
Although prosecutors did not ask for it, the appeals court is free to order the ban on holding elected office to take immediate effect, like the lower court did.
Le Pen could still appeal to the Court of Cassation, France’s highest court, but it is unclear whether judges would suspend the sentence pending a final ruling.
The Court of Cassation has previously said that, if asked to review the case, it would seek to issue a ruling before the presidential election.
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