Le Pen
stuck on French election sidelines until July 7
The
National Rally’s presidential plans are in limbo until former party leader
Marine Le Pen’s appeal of an embezzlement conviction is decided.
Marine Le
Pen has pledged to make a final call on her candidacy as soon as the appeal
decision is in, and in recent days has hinted she's unlikely to fight a ban if
the court upholds it. |
February
11, 2026 6:18 pm CET
By Victor
Goury-Laffont and Sarah Paillou
PARIS —
As the French presidential election campaign kicks into gear unusually early
ahead of the 2027 ballot, the far-right National Rally will be stuck on the
sidelines until summer waiting to find out whether their candidate will be
Marine Le Pen or Jordan Bardella.
Clarity
on timing emerged Wednesday when a court announced it would deliver a verdict
on July 7 in Le Pen’s ongoing appeal of a five-year election ban that knocked
her out of the race.
The
situation is becoming increasingly awkward, as Le Pen has spent the past month
confined to the courtroom while her protégé Bardella, the party’s “Plan B”
candidate, tackles the interviews, meetings and public appearances expected of
a frontline contender.
“I’m more
than walking on eggshells,” one of Bardella’s closest advisers said last week.
The adviser, like others quoted in this piece, was granted anonymity to discuss
internal party dynamics. He said he was “balancing each one of [Bardella’s]
words” to avoid giving the impression that the party was already ruling Le Pen
out as a candidate, for all that her prospects of a successful appeal appear to
be diminishing.
Le Pen
has pledged to make a final call on her candidacy as soon as the appeal
decision is in, and in recent days has hinted she’s unlikely to fight a ban if
the court upholds it.
“I’m not
going to risk killing the presidential election,” Le Pen told a group of
reporters in the courtroom last week.
A close
Le Pen ally admitted that the party knows “the waiting period will be trying.”
“But
that’s no excuse not to start preparing for the campaign,” the ally said.
A new set
of challenges
Le Pen
formally launched her previous presidential campaign in April 2021, 11 months
before the 2022 election. The National Rally likely won’t be able to move so
early for the 2027 campaign.
The
prolonged uncertainty appears to be working against Le Pen, whose was found
guilty last year of illicitly using European Parliament funds to pay for
assistants who solely did domestic political work.
A recent
survey by pollster Odoxa found that 69 percent of National Rally supporters now
believe Bardella would be a stronger candidate than Le Pen. According to the
same poll, Bardella also enjoys higher approval ratings than his mentor across
party lines — and, unlike Le Pen, is viewed positively by a majority of voters
backing the conservative Les Républicains party, whose support the far right
would need to win the race.
Over the
weekend, as Bardella traveled to southern France to support a candidate in a
mayoral race ahead of nationwide local elections next month, he was greeted by
a dense crowd chanting “Jordan [Bardella] at the Elysée,” French media
reported.
In an
interview during the trip with broadcaster BFMTV, Bardella said he would
“always remain entirely loyal to Marine Le Pen,” adding that his party would be
competitive in the next presidential election “no matter what happens, even
though everything is being done to stop us.”
The
French far right has long complained that the system is stacked against it, and
sees the case against Le Pen as an example of this.
The
National Rally faces the added challenge of having to prepare two separate
presidential campaigns at the same time. The Le Pen ally quoted above said the
party’s strategy for Le Pen’s fourth bid at the Elysée would look significantly
different from its approach to the 30-year-old Bardella, who would be taking
his first shot at the presidency.
“A new
candidate means new storytelling, a new pitch,” the Le Pen ally said. “You
can’t just go off what was previously decided upon.”
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário