Le Pen will stand for president despite being convicted

Image: Wikimedia. The court instructed Le Pen to wear electronic-tagging equipment

Having been convicted by the Paris Court of Appeal after being found guilty once again of misappropriation of public funds, Marine Le Pen has decided to appeal to the Court of Cassation and to stand as a candidate in the presidential election. This is an opportunity to recall that, prior to the legal troubles of its leading figure, the far right had advocated making an example of politicians convicted by the courts. Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of the National Front, had even turned his motto, ‘head held high, hands clean’, into a campaign slogan. In 2013, when the Socialist minister Jérôme Cahuzac caused a scandal by admitting to having a secret bank account in Switzerland, the then leader of the FN supported the principle of a lifetime ban on standing for election for elected representatives found guilty of offences such as tax evasion, corruption, favouritism, fictitious employment and the misappropriation of public funds. Today, she ticks almost every box. Her new motto: “head down, dirty hands”.

• Translated with thanks from NPA Révolutionnaires