Europe seems to have entered a new era of election meddling.
Not one in which voters are transported by busses to voting stations, are intimidated to vote for the ‘right’ candidate or their votes are bought by a couple of bucks or a few bags of potatoes.
This is a more sophisticated era when uncomfortable candidates are handled with in the courtroom.
On March 31, Marine Le Pen was found guilty of embezzling more than €4 million European Parliament funds, of which Le Pen was personally responsible for €474,000 as an MEP.
Consequently, the far-right leader was sentenced to four years in prison and was fined for €100,00.
But even more importantly, Le Pen was deemed ineligible to stand in elections for the next five years, with immediate effect. This additional step was requested by the prosecutors on November 13, 2024, claiming that it would be ‘exemplary’ response.
The timing is quite convenient for incumbent President Emmanual Macron, as several polls have put Le Pen ‘as a strong contender to succeed’ him in the Elysée Palace.
It wasn’t just the usual chorus of the so-called ‘far-right’ or ‘nationalist’ leaders who found the verdict a step taken too far, though that didn’t fail to voice its concerns, either.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov immediately accused Paris of anti-democratic measures, extending the accusation to other European countries, as well, claiming ‘more and more European capitals are going down the path of violating democratic norms’ and that they ‘do not shy away from stepping outside the bounds of democracy in the political progress’.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán might have started a new movement by posting ‘Je suis Marine!’ on X. Many followed his lead.
President Trump was quick to compare the process to his own convictions, stating ‘that’s a big deal. That’s a very big deal … it sounds like this country’. He probably didn’t mean it as a compliment.
But for once, politicians from the other ends of the spectrum also raised their voices … or at least their aides, did so. A member of French Prime Minister François Bayrou told to the press that Bayrou was ‘troubled by the verdict’, even if his worries might have been more centred around keeping his minority government on track (hoping that National Rally won’t topple his fragile rule).
Even far-left politician and many times presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon declared that ‘the decision to remove a politician … should be decided by the people’, while conservative Laurent Wauquiez said that it was not ‘healthy’ that ‘in a democracy, a politician is banned from running in an election, and I think that political debates should be decided at polling stations.
If Le Pen would be the first politician to break the law, the outcry would have been probably much quieter. But as there were many (including Bayrou himself or former President Nicolas Sarkozy) who had been accused of crimes relating to different irregularities in campaign financing, yet weren’t removed from the political scene.
The most notable example (and one very close to President Macron) is Richard Ferrand, the President of the Constitutional Council. His short tenure as Minister for the Cohesion of Territories ended with his abrupt resignation following accusations of nepotism. He was also accused of financial misconduct – none of this prevented him from presiding over the National Assembly for six years.
In light of this, it is easy to claim that the ‘justice system has been weaponized’.
Marine Le Pen has already announced that she’d appeal against the verdict. It can take years to reach a final decision.
In the meantime, France joined the illustrious line of countries where elections were decided in the secluded world of courtrooms. The other members include Romania (having banned far-right candidate Calin Georgescu from running) and Russia (anybody remember Alexei Navalny?).
On the upside, the allegations have so far failed to negatively affect Le Pen’s or the National Rally’s popularity – voters seem to understand democracy better than politicians.
And, during her career, Marine Le Pen has proved many times that she was a survivor. Given her soaring popularity, she might actually benefit politically from the conviction, in true Trump-style – but at least National Rally would.
Let’s see whether she also starts to sell T-shirts with her mugshot photo.
