The former Minister of the Interior declared this Thursday on X that it “would be deeply shocking” if Marine Le Pen became ineligible due to a possible conviction by the Paris criminal court. On both the left and the right, however, he was reminded that this was a strict application of the law.
Gérald Darmanin does not want political justice. This is what the former Minister of the Interior said in substance this Thursday, on the social network RN.
The public prosecutor in fact requested on Wednesday evening against the former president of the far-right party five years of ineligibility and five years in prison, two of which could be suspended. Above all, the prosecution requested that the sentence be accompanied by provisional execution, that is to say that an appeal made by the defense would not be suspensive and would therefore prevent the three-time presidential candidate from running for office. new Élysée in 2027.
Darmanin invokes the “People”
The day before, the president of the RN Jordan Bardella was offended, also on .
For Gérald Darmanin, it “would be deeply shocking if Marine Le Pen were deemed ineligible […] Fighting Madame Le Pen is done at the ballot box”, he writes, before continuing: “Let us not be afraid of democracy and let us avoid widening, even further, the difference between the “elites” and the immense majority of our fellow citizens.”
Automatic ineligibility but…
The former tenant of Place Beauvau does not want it to be “condemned electorally, without the expression of the People”. However, as Le Monde points out, the law relating to transparency, the fight against corruption and the modernization of economic life, known as “Sapin 2” which came into force on December 11, 2016, imposes mandatory penalties of ineligibility for five years in the event of conviction in particular for embezzlement of public funds. An automatic ineligibility which would not therefore be due to the magistrates but would result solely from the application of the law.
More comically, still according to Le Monde, the leader of the far right would have discovered, with her lawyers, this legislative particularity only on November 7. However, the law specifies that “the court may, by a specially reasoned decision, decide not to pronounce this sentence, taking into consideration the circumstances of the offense and the personality of its author”.
If the mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi shared the same point of view as Gérald Darmanin, affirming that he wanted Marine Le Pen to be “defeated at the polls, not in the courtrooms”, the left but also part of the presidential camp and the right disowned the former Minister of the Interior.
Is this the end for Marine Le Pen? – 14/11
The first secretary of the PS Olivier Faure thus denounced “a big breach of the principle of separation of powers and the implicit accusation of political justice. Nice combo”. Same story for the socialist deputy for Calvados Arthur Delaporte who joked that “a former minister of the interior […] defends two-tiered justice with minimum sentences for some and impunity for others.
Xavier Bertrand, the president of the Hauts-de-France region (Gérald Darmanin is elected in Tourcoing) reminded him on RTL this Thursday that “the law exists”. “It applies to everyone and no one is above the law.”
“He should not have said that, especially a former Minister of the Interior,” tackled Xavier Bertrand
And even Marine Le Pen would be ineligible, no democratic scandal for Xavier Betrand since “they have an alternative candidate, his name is Bardella and he is just waiting for that”.
“Deeply shocking”, judge Nathalie Delattre
Unease within the government itself since the Minister responsible for Relations with Parliament, Nathalie Delattre, “found it deeply shocking to comment on a court decision”. “There is a political time, there is a judicial time,” she recalled.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon against provisional execution
Slightly different tone for Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who speaks out against the provisional execution of the sentence: “A sentence of ineligibility must not be applied before the expiration of all the remedies provided for by law. Otherwise the political crisis would be aggravated without no benefit for society,” said the leader of LFI.
“We are here in a judicial enclosure and the law applies to everyone”, justice cannot be accountable for everyone's political “ambitions”, justified the public prosecutor Nicolas Barret on Wednesday.
The defense is due to plead starting Monday and the trial is scheduled to end on November 27. The court will not make its decision for several months. Marine Le Pen and all the defendants face sentences of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of one million euros.
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