France may be teetering on the brink of a national snap election, but poll-topping leader Marine Le Pen is barred from even standing, a Paris court has confirmed, in what her supporters say is a politically motivated trial.
France's Conseil d'Etat, a body of leading jurists that provides legal advice to the government and the Supreme Court, has rejected National Rally leader Marine Le Pen's appeal to have her disqualified from running in the election overturned. reports Le Figaro. An order imposed by a politician in March by a judge was reviewed unusual and controversial because, unlike ordinary criminal penalties, they are imposed immediately, despite the fact that the appeal process to overturn the sentence itself has not been exhausted.
Le Pen's supporters have called the decision to remove her from office an overtly political move aimed at keeping her off the ballot at any cost while her party leads the polls in France. Le Pen herself said this is an attempt by the judiciary to “steal” the next election.
Really, it's stated that many members of the European Parliament break the specific rule that Le Pen is accused of breaking, but almost none of them have ever been punished for it, leading to the view that the law is only used to shut down politicians who threaten the European Union itself.
Le Pen's actual appeal against her campaign finance fraud conviction will take place. early next year from January, meaning if the decision is overturned, her eligibility to run for office will revert to the next scheduled French presidential election. Crucially, however, France is experiencing a period of intense political instability, with governments collapsing within months and, as of this month, even within hours of their creation.
The root of this instability is a deeply divided parliament, in which there is no single dominant party or faction, and no possibility of coalition building, since the three main blocs occupy completely exclusive political positions. This led to constant and repeated calls for new national elections and even led to President Emmanuel Macron himself resigning and the nation choosing a new leader.
This could be the key to returning to stability and preventing the widely debated end of the French Fifth Republic to make way for an entirely new constitution and electoral system. However, new elections, while the leader of the National Rally party, which is top in the polls, is barred from even participating in the elections, could well worsen the crisis, further eroding public confidence in the quality of democracy.
