From far-right firebrand to playing the victim
Why Le Pen’s games are a danger to democracy
Like all right-wing extremist parties, the National Rally (Rassemblement National – RN) styles itself as an “anti-establishment” movement fighting against an allegedly corrupt and self-serving political elite. However, when it comes to their own financial interests, either individual or party-wide, they exempt themselves from these high moral standards. This is certainly the case with the most recent verdict against Marine Le Pen, and her allies’ reactions to it. Throughout the trial the RN portrayed itself as the victim of politically motivated judicial tyranny, and has called the verdict anti-democratic. In reality, however, the RN’s own corruption and misuse of public resources are the true threat to democratic order.
What actually happened?
On 31 March, well-known French nationalist Marine Le Pen, along with 23 other individuals including eight MEPs from her own party, were found guilty by a Parisian criminal court of embezzling European Union funds. Between 2004 and 2016, more than 40 fraudulent work contracts were created in the European Parliament – bogus jobs for colleagues of National Front (Front National – FN) representatives who had no involvement in parliamentary affairs and were actually working for the FN in France. As a Member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2017, Marine Le Pen played a central role in the illegal financing of her party in France.
Le Pen was sentenced to four years in prison, two of which are suspended and two of which may be served under house arrest with an electronic ankle bracelet, as well as a fine of 100,000 euro. Although the sentence does not oust her from her current seat in the National Assembly, her right to run for elections has been revoked for five years, depriving her of the chance to run for president in the 2027 elections. Le Pen’s party was also ordered to pay a fine of two million euros, half of which has been suspended, though the damages they caused have been estimated at over four million euros.
The resulting political fallout has been resounding. Due to the particularly serious nature of the case, President Emmanuel Macron’s biggest contender is out of the race for the time being. However, Le Pen denies any wrongdoing, has lodged an appeal against the ruling, and has been loudly campaigning against the French judicial system since the verdict was handed down.
Reactions from the Right
Le Pen’s political allies have reacted in much the same way, and not only in Europe. Donald Trump and the Kremlin condemned the verdict, as did Dutch nationalist Geert Wilders from the Partij voor de Vrijheid (Freedom Party), Santiago Abascal of Spain’s far-right party Vox, and Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini of the Lega party. Likewise, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán wasted no time in declaring, “Je suis Marine!” The most powerful right-wing nationalist politician in Europe, Giorgia Meloni of the Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy), also joined the chorus of indignation in a show of support that Le Pen must have been particularly pleased with. Last year the French winner of the European elections held out hopes of working closely with Meloni, but the Fratelli ended up joining the more moderate faction of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR). Le Pen is now endeavouring to follow Meloni’s example by distancing herself from the radical far-right and presenting herself as a more moderate conservative. Indeed, she has spent years working to lead her party into the political mainstream, distancing herself from her antisemitic roots and even driving her own father Jean-Marie Le Pen, who himself led the FN for many years, out of the party.
Corruption à la française
The ruling has certainly shaken things up in France, though it was by no means unprecedented. There have been several cases in which politicians have been slapped with fines or prison sentences because of corruption, or even been stripped of their right to run for elections or hold political office. Philippe Martin of the Socialist Party, former member of the National Assembly and Minister of the Environment, was convicted of falsely employing his then wife as a parliamentary assistant. Similarly, former Prime Minister François Fillon of the conservative Républicains was also found guilty of employing his wife under false pretenses. This scandal considerably blemished his reputation during the 2017 presidential election campaign and ultimately resulted in his withdrawal from politics, clearing the way for Emmanuel Macron’s ascent to power. Alain Juppé, former Prime Minister and close confidant of President Jacques Chirac, was also involved in a corruption scandal in which Parisian municipal employees were used for party-related tasks. To add to the list, former President Nicolas Sarkozy, also of the Républicains, was convicted of illegal campaign financing, after which he withdrew from active politics.
Le Pen’s sentencing, however, has polarised a country where surveys confirm a persistent, widespread distrust of politicians and their integrity. A recent poll revealed that around 60 percent of those asked found the sentencing to be just, while 40 percent saw it as politically motivated. Although these results are to be taken with a grain of salt, and most people believe in a non-partisan judicial system, the number of those who find the verdict to be politically motivated is worryingly high. Moreover, a considerable portion of the French population consider politicians to be corrupt, and have little trust in political institutions and their representatives. According to a survey published in February, this negative perception of France’s political class has risen to a staggering 74 percent of the population, a significantly higher number than, for example, Germany, where only 53 percent of the population hold similar views.[1]
Corruption, illegal party financing and the misappropriation of public resources are perennially controversial topics in French public debate. What makes this current case so special is the ban on Le Pen running for office for the next five years. Though this temporary loss of the right to stand in elections is a common penalty in France, one that is enshrined in the country’s anti-corruption law, the law only came into force after Le Pen’s term as a Member of Parliament. However, suspending her right to run in elections was not mandatory, and the judge did not justify her decision with the law in question when handing down her judgement. Instead, her decision was based on the danger that Marine Le Pen could continue to embezzle public funds in the future. Even figures from other political camps criticised this ruling as disproportionately harsh and risky, fearing that it could feed the narrative that the decision was politically motivated.
Reactions from the Left
Parties on the left of the spectrum have reacted to the ruling in a variety of ways, but many are not exactly rejoicing. In an official statement, La France Insoumise (LFI) and the French Communist Party (PCF) stressed the importance of equality before the law and the seriousness of the offence. On the other hand, some leftist parties differ from each other in their positioning regarding the incontestability of the decision and their strategy vis à vis the RN. LFI stresses that elections and grassroots mobilisation are the way to fight against the RN, not legal proceedings. Former presidential candidate and party founder Jean-Luc Mélenchon warned that decisions of this kind have the potential to be exploited, call the independence of the judicial system into question, and use the courts as a political instrument to exclude undesirable figures from the political process. Incidentally, Jean-Luc Mélenchon was also investigated during his term as MP for false employment, with a preliminary search and a subsequent conviction handed down for resisting state authority (not corruption), but since then no decisive conclusions have been made regarding the matter.
On Sunday, after the ruling was announced, the LFI together with the Greens called for a demonstration in Paris against the far-right, who that same day had scrambled to organise an event in support of Le Pen. The PCF, like the Socialist Party, declared that they would not respond to this call, as they believed the court decision should not be mixed up with the ongoing fight against the Right. These differing stances highlight the tensions within the French left regarding how to deal with the ruling, as well as wider disagreements about the role of the judicial system in political discourse.
The end of politics for Le Pen?
In the meantime, the RN continues playing the victim, though the evidence submitted to the case is considered steadfast and well researched. Le Pen can now only run in the 2027 presidential election if she manages to receive a more favourable appeal ruling before the deadline for submitting her candidacy. The Paris Court plans to rule on her appeal by Summer 2026. If the appeal is successful, she would still be able to run in 2027. If not, party leader Jordan Bardella is being touted as a possible successor. The RN’s rising star is currently campaigning for nationwide protests against the ruling, which he calls “judicial tyranny”, and his popularity is growing, as are the RN’s membership numbers. Clearly the RN is making the most out of the situation in order to mobilise its supporters and advance its own political agenda.
This case will probably go down in the history of the Fifth Republic as yet another major fraudulent party financing scandal. What makes it particularly dangerous, though, is the way the Right is depicting the ruling as a failure of democracy. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. The real attack on law and order is not the legal prosecution of offences, but the misappropriation of public funds. The RN’s strategy of portraying itself as a victim of judicial persecution undermines the already low level of trust in democratic institutions, and only serves to further destabilise democratic order.
Much remains to be seen. Le Pen’s case represents an important turning point for France’s political landscape, and may already have implications for the municipal and regional elections in 2026. The scandal will only hurt the Right if a broader political movement takes up the cause and exposes the RN for what it is: a party of corruption and authoritarian nationalism – by no means a party of the people. However, given the worldwide right-wing support for Le Pen, the situation currently looks rather bleak.
Anna Schröder heads the Foreign Office of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation.