Jordan Bardella experienced a moment of solitude on Monday evening on BFMTV. The president of the National Rally (RN) declared with confidence: “Not having a conviction on your criminal record is for me a number one rule when you wish to be a parliamentarian of the Republic.” However, Marine Le Pen risks being sentenced, since she is currently on trial in the parliamentary assistants affair.
This contradiction did not escape journalist Maxime Zwitek, who asked Jordan Bardella: “Wait, wait… What if Marine Le Pen is convicted?” Visibly taken aback, the president of the RN stammered, contenting himself with reminding that his colleague would appeal in the event of a conviction. “That means that if Marine Le Pen is convicted, even if there is no ineligibility (…), there is no possible candidacy for Marine Le Pen?”, relaunched the presenter .
“There will be an appeal, the appeal makes you whiter than white,” Jordan Bardella repeated. “Marine Le Pen is totally innocent,” he said again. “If there is a conviction, there is no candidacy, and that applies to everyone?”, once again raised Maxime Switek. Response from the president of the RN: “But obviously that applies to everyone, but Marine Le Pen is innocent.”
The risks of ineligibility hovering against Marine Le Pen constitute a mini-earthquake in French political life. The trial against the RN, accused of having diverted money from the European Parliament to finance its internal needs, has hardly excited France since its opening on September 30. Until the very harsh indictment last Wednesday: the prosecution demanded five years in prison, of which two years could be amended, a fine of 300,000 euros and five years of ineligibility against the one that the polls show among the favorites to succeed to Emmanuel Macron. Jordan Bardella is not being prosecuted.
