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The full -screen French outer right’s galley character Marine Le Pen in Paris on Monday. Photo: Thibault Camus/AP/TT
A hot political situation in France may be even hotter after the verdict against Marine Le Pen.
And personally, the bang is hard against her dreams of becoming president.
France has already become accustomed to judges against former politicians such as ex-presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Jacques Chirac and former Prime Minister François Fillon.
Instead, it is a highly current politician who is affected when the National Collection’s Marine Le Pen is convicted of fraud with EU funds.
– This is big. This has consequences, says Marie Demker, professor of political science at the University of Gothenburg.
Investing in Bardella?
Le Pen’s supporters have quickly accused the court of acting politically. Demker, however, expects many to trust that the court has acted correctly.
– I think that the French courts on such issues have a legitimacy and that it is not perceived as politically governed. Precisely the fact that both Sarkozy and Chirac have been judged that there is some legitimacy, says Demker.
What the consequences are is not easy to say. First and foremost, the verdict is a tough bang for the party National Collection that needs to think about whether to quit behind Le Pen or already start presenting 29-year-old party leader Jordan Bardella before the 2027 presidential election.
The support for him is not given.
– Bardella is soap and has the gift of the speech, but he does not really have the same authority in the party. Will he be able to keep the troops together behind him? I’m not sure, says Demker.
Never President?
Another question is how the national collection will act in Parliament, where so far they have chosen not to cut the minority government led by Liberal François Bayrou.
Admittedly, it may not be a new election until the earliest after the summer.
– But it will not only continue with “business as usual”. Something will happen within the next few weeks, Demker believes.
And for Le Pen personally, the verdict probably means that she is now never president in France.
– I would guess no. It was probably 2027 that she would have had the chance. This will still be a break, regardless of appeals, says Marie Demker.