Marine Le Pen ban is ‘political and partisan', says French far-right leader
The president of France's far-right National Rally (RN) party has described a court's decision to ban Marine Le Pen from public office for five years, wrecking her hopes of becoming president in 2027, as 'disproportionate, political and partisan'.
Jordan Bardella said the punishment for Le Pen's conviction for embezzling European Parliament funds would deprive millions of French voters of their democratic right to put her in the Elysée Palace.
Le Pen has said she will appeal against the ruling, which if successful would lead to a new trial that she hopes will overturn the conviction and public office ban in time to campaign for the presidency.
Bardella, who is seen as the RN's 'Plan B' if she fails, said he refused to consider this scenario and pledged his loyalty to Le Pen.
'Marine Le Pen has given me everything in politics,' he said. 'It is she who has given me the opportunity to be before you today. The least I can do is to fight with her to the end. We work together, hand in hand and in total confidence. I have total loyalty. Those who think they have killed off the RN and put us out of the game will not succeed.'
Hours after the verdict that threw French politics into turmoil on Monday the RN came out fighting with a communication campaign on French television.
Bardella, 29, was speaking a day after a Paris court found Le Pen and 24 others from RN, including party officials, employees, MEPs and assistants, guilty of embezzling millions in European Parliament funds as part of a fake jobs scam.
The trial last November heard how the party took money for EU parliamentary assistants but spent it paying staff in France. None of the accused benefited personally from the embezzlement.
Le Pen, 56, was also given a four-year prison term, two years suspended and two to be served wearing an electronic bracelet. The sentence will be postponed until the appeal process is exhausted, but the five-year ban on standing for public office takes immediate effect.
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After the verdict, Le Pen went on television to denounce what she said was the court's 'political decision' and vowed to 'pursue all legal avenues' to be able to stand in 2027.
On Tuesday morning, Bardella gave a long live interview with French opinion channel CNews dismissing the embezzlement charges as 'an administrative disagreement with the EU'. He described Le Pen's sentence as 'brutal' and a travesty against her and the RN, the single largest party in the French Assemblée Nationale.
'If you are in politics, you are not above the law, but neither are you below it,' he said. 'As long as she can bring the RN to power everything will be done to stop us getting there,' Bardella said. 'The place to fight adversaries is on political not legal ground. I say to those rejoicing in this decision: today it's us, tomorrow it will be you.'
Bardella added that he hoped the appeal court hearing could be held in time to correct the 'error' of the lower court in time for Le Pen to stand in 2027 and said RN voters were being ignored as 'second-class' citizens.
He called for 'peaceful, democratic protests' across the country and said the party would be launching a leafletting campaign this weekend.
'We are not fashos, racists or far right. We are reasonable people who are patriotic, who love our country and we are fighting for the French people. We are fighting to get into power, not to remain in opposition.'
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