Court clears way for Marine Le Pen to run in 2027 but under one condition
London: A court in France has cleared the way for right-wing leader Marine Le Pen to run for president in next year’s elections, but she will have to wear an electronic ankle bracelet to serve her sentence for misusing public funds.
The Paris Court of Appeal upheld the conviction of the National Rally leader for misusing European Union funds, but reduced his sentence; This meant he would not have to wear the ankle device for as long as previously expected.
The decision complicates the decision on how to challenge for the presidency within the party, which has gained ground in opinion polls with its calls for a sharp shift in the country’s handling of immigration.
With French President Emmanuel Macron unable to run in the next election due to term limits, the presidential race is shaping up to be a vote that will determine the course of the country, as the National Assembly split and voted to impeach the prime minister last year.
Le Pen’s presidential hopes have been in limbo since March 2025, when she received a five-year election ban from the European Parliament for embezzling more than €4 million ($6.6 million). He denied the crime and appealed.
The five-year ban on running for elected office went into effect immediately. Le Pen was also fined €100,000 and sentenced to four years in prison; two of these were suspended and two were kept under house arrest.
Changing this decision, the Paris Court of Appeal sentenced Le Pen to three years in prison, including two years of suspension and one year of wearing an electronic tag. The court approved the fine of 100,000 Euros.
This means the National Rally leader will have to wear an ankle bracelet during the election campaign, an option he has previously rejected. He will talk about his future in France on Tuesday night (early Wednesday, AEST).
Le Pen has spent more than a decade transforming the movement founded by her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, from a fringe nationalist party into what many see as a government-in-waiting, and a decision to maintain the ban would be bitter for her personally.
Le Pen was convicted of being at the center of a scheme to misuse EU funds originally intended to fund parliamentary assistants by using them instead of paying RN staff.
via Reuters
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David Crowe is the European correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect with: X or email.
