“Marine Le Pen falls under the rule of law and a great battle promises,” warns the American daily New York Times. After the conviction of the far -right leader on Monday, March 31, to immediate ineligibility for five years in the case of European parliamentary assistants, the press of the whole world is watching this French political “new crisis”.
The Guardian,, British media on the left, evokes a “political earthquake in France”, while Marine Le Pen was about to embark on her fourth presidential campaign. Same term committed to our Swiss colleagues by Time Who include this trial in a legal news already charged last week, with the trials of Gérard Depardieu and Nicolas Sarkozy.
“Marine Le Pen had her coveted presidential candidacy for the 2027 presidential election after being guilty of having defrauded taxpayers of more than 4 million euros,” summarized The Irish Times. Commenting on his interview with the 8 p.m. TF1 newspaper, the Corriere della will be Italian describes Marine Le Pen as “furious, enraged against a judicial decision that she saw as yet another blow of fate”.
The decision “upsets the French political game”
Beyond the national rally, the conviction “”upset the French political game “, for the Belgian newspaper The evening. In an editorial by Joëlle Meskens, it is firmly recalled that “Marine Le Pen’s ineligibility is not a violation of democracy”. In the United States, the decision sparked comparisons with Donald Trump, also struggling with justice when he was trying to access the highest office in the state. “Unlike President Trump, who suffered convictions, charges and criminal proceedings in his election last year, perhaps even taking advantage of a perceived persecution, Marine Le Pen found no political paths beyond the verdict of French justice”, tances the New York Times.
For the moment, the RN is plunged “in confusion”, according to The Economist. “Party figures were not prepared for the severity of the sentence and had no plan B. Jordan Bardella, fiercely ambitious, is a fine strategist and a Tiktok star. But he was preparing to become Prime Minister, and not president,” said the specialized British journal. As soon as known the judgment of the Paris Criminal Court, the hypothesis of a substitution candidacy of Jordan Bardella has nonetheless returned with force. For its part, the Spanish daily El Pais Sees the 29 -year -old MEP “to make his way in chaos of the French far right”.
The Economist also believes that the conviction of Marine Le Pen for the abusive use of European funds could strengthen the extreme right. “For the basic voters of Marine Le Pen, long attracted by his anti-system message, this decision could nourish the feeling that the system is against its party. At a time when populist politicians, both in Europe and in the United States, rise against what they consider an anti-democratic censorship, it could prove to be a powerful force,” said the weekly. Even fear in the New York Times : “We do not know to what extent the Fifth Republic, plagued by disorders, will be able to withstand the inevitable wave of political protests before the 2027 elections.”