French far right leader banned from seeking public office for 5 years: political upheaval under verdict

A French court ruled on Monday that Marine Le Pen was guilty of corruption and banned her from seeking public office for five years, dealing a heavy blow to the far right leader's hopes of running for president and shaking French politics.

For many years, Marina Le Pen has stood at the door of power, calm, ruthless, and constantly rising. She stripped away the old symbols of the French far right, polished off its roughest edges, and built a disciplined machine in its place, with the sole goal of winning the presidency. In 2022, she came closer than anyone could have imagined, winning over 40% of the vote in the runoff against Emmanuel Macron. The É lys é e Palace seems within reach. Now, her political future may be cut off. On Monday, a French court ruled that Le Pen was guilty of embezzling EU funds and banned her from holding public office for five years. This ruling may not only exclude her from the next presidential election, but it may also end the most prolonged far right power struggle in Western Europe since World War II.

The court's ruling is both political and judicial for France, hindering one of the main contenders to succeed President Emmanuel Macron at the end of his last term. The political influence is so widespread that some opponents of Le Pen also argue that the Paris court has gone too far. Despite facing shame, Le Pen remained one of the most important political figures of her time. She took a name that once caused hatred and transformed it into a serious tool for national leadership. She made the far right a candidate for election. She blurred the boundary between edges and power.

Le Pen condemned the verdict in an interview with French television channel TF1 as a "political" measure aimed at preventing her from participating in the 2027 presidential election. She described the ruling as a violation of the rule of law, stating that she will appeal and request that the court proceedings be conducted before the 2027 election. She is still not eligible to become a candidate until the appeal decision is made. Le Pen said that the court should not disqualify her from running for public office until all her appeal opportunities have been exhausted, and that doing so is clearly a deliberate attempt by the court to prevent her from being elected president. If this is not a political decision, I don't know what it is, "Le Pen said in an interview with TF1. "Millions of French believe me, millions of French believe me," she added: "I have been fighting for you for 30 years, and I have been fighting against injustice for 30 years, so I will continue to fight.

Her supporters quickly expressed their dissatisfaction with the verdict. Her 29 year old prot é g é, Jordan Baldela, stated on X that Le Pen is "unfairly condemned" and French democracy is "being enforced". Hungarian populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban quickly expressed his support on social media, posting "I am a Marine!" on X. Among Le Pen's political opponents, conservative parliamentarian Laurent Vokiz said that this verdict "imposes a very heavy burden on our democracy".

Perhaps only an appeal ruling overturning the ban on public office can restore her hope of running for election. But there are only two years left until the general election, and there is not much time left. It cannot be guaranteed that the appellate court will make a more favorable ruling, and the appeal in France may take several years to end. This verdict can be said to be a disastrous defeat for Le Pen's National Rally Party.