Le Pen’s Conviction: A Hit Below the Belt of Democracy

Sometimes the boundaries of institutional powers are indistinct in a democracy. When it comes to France, the modern cradle of democracy, or Turkey, a candidate for membership in the European Union, then the implications go beyond the borders of each country. In recent weeks, two similar connections between the judiciary and politics have occurred in Turkey and France, with the two leading opposition leaders, Imamoglu and Le Pen, being put out of the electoral race by actions of the judiciary, respectively. However, while the Imamoglu case was met with an outcry from the Western media, the same did not happen with the Le Pen case, which they are trying to silence awkwardly and hypocritically.

The recent conviction of Marine Le Pen by the French criminal court for embezzlement of European funds was made with the strictest possible sentence, which in addition to four years in prison (two suspended and two under house arrest) and a fine of 100 thousand Euros, exhausts its severity with an immediate five-year ban on her candidacy for the presidency. Nevertheless, Le Pen will continue to be a member of the French National Assembly unless early elections are called, in which case she will not have the right to run.

Regardless of the ideological position of the average citizen towards Le Pen and her party, the National Rally and former National Front, the exhaustingly severe sentence at the given time raises questions in the French, and not only, public opinion about the motive for this severity; that is, whether it is also behind the scenes political. With this decision, the increasingly popular major oppositionist Le Pen of the largest single opposition party (123 MPs) is placed out of the political battle for the presidency, possibly dragging her party along despite the opportunity presented to her young successor, Bardella, to attempt the “zero evil, pure good”.

Undoubtedly, the independent judiciary of France with this largely excessive decision indirectly affects the political map in view of the 2027 presidential elections. Regardless of who the political winners or losers of the Le Pen conviction are, this conviction is largely political. In a democracy, the popular electoral will should not be overshadowed by judicial decisions, even if they have a legal basis, in light of the fact that its performance is often rightly revoked by its excessive application. It is a democratic culture and an achievement for each party to respect and support the right of the other party to fair electoral competition. The people know this, and it is possible that Le Pen’s party opponents see the growing rallying and expansion of Le Pen’s party base as a reaction to her institutional political marginalization.