After the searches that demanded the ineligibility of Marine Le Pen on Wednesday, November 13, the National Rally (RN) frontally attacked the justice system, denouncing, as expected, “a relentlessness” and an alleged desire of the prosecutor to remove him from political life. Outside the extreme right, most right-wing and center leaders were discreet in their reactions and barely leaned towards the RN, with the notable exception of former Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin.
“It would be deeply shocking if Marine Le Pen were deemed ineligible and therefore unable to stand before the French vote.”wrote the deputy from the North, a few hours after the prosecution requested, among other things, five years of disqualification against the putative candidate for the 2027 presidential elections in the case of the European Parliament assistants of the National Front (FN, now RN, in 2018). “Fight Mme Le Pen is done at the polls, not elsewhere. If the court judges that she should be condemned, she cannot be condemned electorally, without the expression of the people. continues the former Minister of the Interior. Before calling to avoid having “fear of democracy” and not to “deepen the difference between the “elites” and the vast majority of our fellow citizens”.
With the aim of addressing the Lepenist electorate, following in the footsteps of his model Nicolas Sarkozy, Darmanin takes up the populist rhetoric of his political opponent, even if that means fueling the discredit of the role of justice. His statements are all the more criticizable since the hypothetical ineligibility of Mme Le Pen would not be subject to a decision by the magistrates but to a legislative measure. In fact, since the application of the Sapin 2 law in 2016, any elected official found guilty of embezzlement (one of the charges against the far-right leader) is automatically deprived of his right to stand for election.
It would not be the first time that Gérald Darmanin opposes the rule of law. The then Minister of the Interior confirmed in December 2023 the expulsion of an Uzbek citizen, suspected of radicalization, against a decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and the Council of State, for the first time in France.
The “big wink” to the RN electorate
Darmanin’s comment sparked criticism within the government itself. On Thursday, on Europe 1, the Minister of Justice, Didier Migaud, reminded him that “the judges are independent” AND “judge based on the law approved by the legislator”During her stay at the LCP, the minister responsible for relations with Parliament, Nathalie Delattre, stated “deeply shocked” in the words of the former mayor of Tourcoing.
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