Jordan Bardella denounces the request for ineligibility against Marine Le Pen: “Rassemblement national is on its knees”

Rassemblement National president Jordan Bardella expressed his outrage this Thursday, November 14, at the request to render Marine Le Pen ineligible for five years in the Front National European parliamentary assistants affair. “It is unacceptable that a judge should prevent a future presidential candidate from exercising her democratic right simply because he has decided to go after her,” he said on CNews and Europe 1.

This reaction follows the prosecutors’ request for a provisional sentence of ineligibility. This would mean that Marine Le Pen would be barred from standing in the 2027 presidential election, even if she were to appeal a possible conviction, expected in early 2025. In addition to ineligibility, the prosecutors have asked for five years’ imprisonment, two of which are firm and can be modified, plus a fine of 300,000 euros for the former party president.

The Minister of Justice, Didier Migaud, avoided commenting directly on the case, but stressed the independence of magistrates and their obligation to judge according to the laws passed by Parliament. Under current legislation, any elected official found guilty of embezzling public funds automatically faces a penalty of ineligibility. In recent years, however, this provision has been called into question. However, this provision has been called into question in recent days by several political figures, including former Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin.

Bardella stressed that this request for ineligibility represents a direct attack on the Rassemblement National and its political ambitions. In his view, this type of initiative seeks to limit citizens’ access to their elected representatives and restrict the democratic rights of opposition parties.