PARIS (AP) 鈥� already faced one of the world’s most important elections next year. Now it has one of the more unusual.
Far-right leader 鈥檚 decision to run for the presidency for a fourth time means that someone found guilty of embezzling public funds will campaign to lead the 鈥檚 largest nation.
On Tuesday, a Paris appeals court for the 57-year-old Le Pen to run by shortening that had spelled possible doom for her ambitions. Opponents now know who they鈥檒l be up against in the election less than 10 months away.
She’s using the latest twist in her legal saga to fortify her story of a combative politician who is taking on the system in the interests, she says, of France.
鈥淗er argument is essentially this: 鈥楧espite all the obstacles and all the ordeals I鈥檝e been through, I鈥檓 still standing, I鈥檓 still running. I entered politics to carry this national project for France through to the end,’鈥� said Luc Rouban, a senior researcher at Paris鈥� Sciences Po school of political sciences who studies Le Pen’s National Rally party.
Legal uncertainty hangs over the election
While the Paris appeals court reduced both the ban and the prison sentence that judges handed down last year, it still ordered that she must serve a year of home detention, with her whereabouts
The punishment conjured up the prospect of a candidate hoping to lead France stumping for votes with an electronic tag on her ankle.
Whether that will happen is unknown. By declaring Tuesday that she鈥檒l challenge the ruling to France’s highest court, Le Pen bought time. The court said Wednesday that the process will suspend the sentence that she be electronically monitored, at least until it has ruled.
When the Court of Cassation will rule is unclear. It said Wednesday the process should conclude before the election’s first round in April, with the knockout round in May.
鈥淚 will therefore campaign without an electronic bracelet,鈥� Le Pen declared.
Should she win 鈥� far from certain, despite polls suggesting she’s 鈥� she would benefit from the legal immunity that comes with the presidency. That rules out any possibility of an electronic monitor while in office.
But electronic monitoring, if still required then, could come back into the picture after the presidency, said Julien Jeanneney, a professor of public law at the University of Strasbourg.
鈥淚n practice, however, one could imagine that a judge might decide not to require a former president of the Republic to resume wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet 鈥� particularly if the sentence had already been substantially served before” the election, he said.
Le Pen鈥檚 conviction leaves her open to criticism
Critics and potential election rivals argue that her embezzlement conviction would make her ethically unfit for the presidency.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not normal,鈥� said Bernadette Flament, a 73-year-old resident of a village close to a campaign stop on Wednesday. 鈥淎 president who governs, who will govern France, who has been convicted, is unacceptable.鈥�
After multiple scandals involving lawmakers and ministers, polls consistently show French voters want higher ethical standards in public life and are highly critical of what they perceive as politicians鈥� dishonesty.
Last year, Nicolas Sarkozy became to go to prison after he was found guilty of criminal conspiracy. He was made to wear an electronic monitor for three months.
鈥淭here is a strong public expectation on this issue,鈥� Rouban said. 鈥淢arine Le Pen may try to play down her conviction, but the fact remains that she has been convicted.鈥�
Le Pen’s double-ticket candidacy isn’t what it seems
Le Pen announced that she’ll campaign as a 鈥渄uo” with protege 鈥� which to American ears may sound like the Trump-Vance or Biden-Harris tickets in the last U.S. presidential election.
Le Pen, a veteran of three presidential campaigns and daughter of five-time presidential candidate , brings experience. The 30-year-old Bardella, president of their populist, anti-immigration National Rally party, is popular with Gen Z, with larger followings on Instagram and TikTok.
In France, it鈥檚 a break with tradition for candidates to double-team a presidential election. Le Pen says Bardella would be her prime minister if she wins. They campaigned together Wednesday.
But unlike in the United States, French voters only choose one leader in the presidential election. The choice of prime minister is the president鈥檚 alone and no law would oblige Le Pen to pick Bardella.
The pairing could appeal both to National Rally supporters and to 鈥渘ew swaths of voters attracted by Bardella鈥檚 youth, communication style and apparent pragmatism, more anchored on the right and more amenable to business interests,” said C茅lia Belin, who specializes in French politics at the European Council on Foreign Relations, a think tank.
“By running as a 鈥榯icket,鈥� they hope to keep this large electoral base,” she said.
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AP journalist Alex Turnbull in La Fl猫che, France, contributed.
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