French National Rally (RN) opposition party de facto leader Marine Le Pen’s conviction and accompanying ineligibility to run for president has sparked intense reactions both in France and abroad.
To many, the country’s democratic image appeared to have been tarnished.
On March 31, a Paris court found Le Pen guilty of embezzling public funds and banned her from running in elections with immediate effect. She has also been sentenced to four years imprisonment, with two years suspended.
Speaking to TV channel TF1 after the verdict, she pledged to fight back and appeal the conviction.
“I say to the French people: Don’t worry, I’m not demoralised. Like you, I am outraged and indignant. I want them to know that this indignation and sense of injustice will be an additional driving force in the fight I am waging on their behalf,” Le Pen said.
“No judge can decide to interfere in an election as important as the presidential election, what’s more, by violating the rule of law.”
RN President Jordan Bardella, said on CNews that France now faced the “tyranny of the judges”.
He called on the French to be indignant, stating that “everything is being done” to prevent his party “from coming to power”.
“Our democracy is sick,” Bardella said. “This decision is disproportionate.
“This is a pure and simple negation of the rule of law. On Monday, March 31, judges decided to eliminate the candidate considered the favourite from the presidential race,” he said.
Internationally, vociferous negative reactions to the outcome were widespread.
US President Donald Trump compared Le Pen’s conviction to his own court cases in the US, saying that the ineligibility for five years of the RN MP was “a very important matter”.
“It makes you think of our country, it looks a lot like our country,” said Trump.
US billionaire Elon Musk posted on his X platform: “When the radical left can’t win via democratic vote, they abuse the legal system to jail their opponents.”
Viktor Orbán, Prime Minister of Hungary, posted: “Je suis Marine! [I am Marine],” expressing solidarity with Le Pen.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said: “No one who truly believes in democracy can rejoice at a ruling that affects the leader of a major party, depriving millions of citizens of their representation.”
Meloni’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini added: “Those who fear the judgement of the electorate often seek reassurance in the courts.”
He described the situation as: “A bad film that can also be seen in other countries such as Romania.”
The popular Dutch politician Geert Wilders said he was “shocked by the incredible tough verdict”.
“I support and believe in her for the full 100 per cent and I trust she will win the appeal and become president of France,” he added.
Former president of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro said: “The rise of the Right is a reality all over the world. The Left in France, as in Brazil, is choosing the path of ‘Lawfare’, of judicial activism to succeed in elections without a real opposition.”
He compared the imposition of ineligibility on Le Pen with that of former Deputy of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Maria Corina, whom left-wing President Nicolás Maduro has excluded as his main opponent for 15 years.
Human rights activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali said: “It’s official: France is now a Third World country. Just like Myanmar. Vice President J D Vance was right to ask the question: do we have common values with Europe?”
Others on the French Right were also highly critical. Former leader of the centre-right party Les Républicains, Éric Ciotti said: “The democratic fate of our nation has been seized by an unworthy judicial clique.”
“The favourite for the presidential election is being prevented from participating. This is not simply dysfunction; this is a system of power seizure that systematically excludes everything.”
Reconquête party leader Éric Zemmour said: “It’s not up to judges to decide who the people should vote for. Whatever our disagreements, Marine Le Pen is entitled to stand for election.”
“I regret that politicians have given the courts this exorbitant power of their own accord. Everything will have to change.”
Some on the Left also voiced opposition to the ruling. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, left-wing leader of La France Insoumise (LFI) party and a fierce opponent of Le Pen. “The choice to dismiss an elected official should only belong to the people,” despite his political differences with her, he said.
“We take note of this court decision, even if we refuse in principle that an appeal should be impossible for any litigant, whoever they may be,” his party stated in an official communiqué.
“La France Insoumise has never had the option of using a court to get rid of the National Rally. We are fighting it at the ballot box and in the streets, through the popular mobilisation of the French people.”
On the Left, there were also, though, some positive remarks regarding the ruling.
Green Party President Marine Tondelier said: “It’s normal when you’re a judge not to agree with the RN because it’s a party that threatens the institutions. It’s a survival reflex, a democratic reflex, not to want the RN to come to power …”
On X on March 31, the Socialist Party MP and former president François Hollande said: “The only response we should have is to respect the independence of the judiciary. It is unacceptable to attack judges.”
The Communist Party stated: “This judgment should be seen for what it is: A reminder of equality before the law and the necessary integrity of representatives.”
