France’s Le Pen Faces ‘Political Death’ Over Fraud Allegations

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

PARIS/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – The future of Marine Le Pen and her France-first populist National Rally (RN) party is at stake Monday as a court could derail her plans to run in the next presidential election due to fraud allegations.

A judge is set to rule whether Le Pen, 56, and her RN party embezzled European Parliament funds.

She and 24 other party officials are accused of using money intended for European Union parliamentary aides to pay instead staff who worked for the party between 2004 and 2016, violating the 27-nation bloc’s regulations.

Le Pen and other co-defendants have denied wrongdoing during the nine-week trial late last year.

Her most significant concern is that if found guilty, she could be declared ineligible to seek public office.

It could have implications for her allies, such as longtime Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, whose perceived autocratic style and allegations of corruption among his ranks prompted EU sanctions and infringement procedures.

ORBAN CONCERNED

With his Fidesz party suffering in the polls at home and facing isolation in Brussels, Orbán had hoped to receive more international political backing from influential politicians such as Le Pen.

The two were among leaders attending last month’s gathering in Madrid of the European Parliament’s third-largest voting bloc, Patriots for Europe, held under the slogan “Make Europe Great Again.”

It was inspired by the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, which is led by U.S. President Donald J. Trump, who views Orbán as a “great leader.”

Yet if Le Pen is convicted, a three-time presidential candidate could be barred from standing against Emmanuel Macron in the 2027 presidential vote.

Public prosecutors have demanded that Le Pen be punished with a 300,000 euro ($325,000) fine, a prison sentence, and a five-year prohibition from holding or seeking a political position.

On Friday, in a case that did not involve Le Pen, France’s constitutional council delivered a blow to the RN figurehead when it ruled that politicians can be barred from office immediately if convicted of a crime.

POLITICAL DEATH?

Le Pen has accused prosecutors of seeking her “political death” and said making her ineligible for office would “confound voters’ wishes and threaten the democratic process.”

A poll in the Le Figaro publication suggested that 42 percent of French people wanted her to stand in 2027. Le Pen appointed Jordan Bardella, 29, as RN president in 2021. Still, a senior party member reportedly said there was “no plan B” if Le Pen was ruled immediately ineligible to stand in 2027 and accused the party of sticking its head in the sand.

Her RN has often been described as far-right in part because it was founded by her late father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, known for his antisemitic views.

In 1987 Jean-Marie Le Pen was asked on a French radio show whether he believed that 6 million Jews had been murdered in the Nazi gas chambers in the Holocaust, also known as Shoah.

After spending several seconds searching for words, he declared the deaths of 6 million Jews a “point de détail” — “a minor detail,” a technicality — in the larger history of the war, as well as a subject for debate among historians.

While the former Algerian War veteran had been found guilty on various charges of inciting racial hatred, it was “the point de détail” quip that underscored broader concerns about RN.

His daughter publicly distanced herself from her father’s remarks, but critics remain concerned about her perceived harsh anti-migration rhetoric.

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