The French extreme right is the protagonist of a peculiar paradox. Le Pen’s party, the National Rally (RN) – formerly the National Front (FN) – has always viewed European construction with great skepticism, but at the same time it has been accused of embezzling money from Brussels for years.
The Paris Prosecutor’s Office announced yesterday that it has requested a trial against the party as an organization and against 27 of its leaders and collaborators, including Marine Le Pen – three times candidate for the Elysée – and her father and founder of the FN, Jean-Marie. The crime would have consisted of using the salaries received by the alleged assistants in the European Parliament to work for the party in France.
Among those who may face trial is also the current vice president of the RN, Louis Aliot, mayor of Perpignan. Aliot held a seat as an MEP during the years in which the Prosecutor’s Office accused irregularities.
If found guilty, the accused could receive sentences of up to ten years in prison and as many disqualifications, as well as a maximum fine of one million euros. The investigation began in March 2015, when the European Parliament announced that it had activated the EU Anti-Fraud Office due to suspicions aroused by assistants to MEPs from Le Pen’s party. The European Parliament, which is a civil party in the case, assessed in 2018 that the damage to its coffers due to the conduct of the FN – and later the RN – could total 6.8 million euros in the period between 2009 and 2017.
The RN has always denied dishonest behavior and yesterday, after learning of the Prosecutor’s Office’s decision, he insisted on the same. According to the party, researchers have an erroneous view of the work of MEPs, “which is above all a political work.” For the RN, it is normal that part of the assistants’ duties are carried out in France and not in Brussels. Le Pen’s entourage expressed perplexity at the fact that the decision was made known during the electoral period.
The main French far-right party is already campaigning for the European elections in June next year. The RN was the most voted list in 2019, ahead of Emmanuel Macron’s party. Le Pen is pursuing another, even clearer, victory that opens the way for a fourth attempt, this time successful, to achieve the presidency of the Republic.
It does not seem that the latest news about the judicial problems of Le Pen’s party could have any influence on the partial senatorial elections that will be held this Sunday. Every three years, half of the Upper House is renewed in a very endogamous procedure of the political class. Senators have a term of six years. They are not elected by citizen vote but indirectly, through a college of almost 80,000 major electors, among whom there are deputies, senators, regional and departmental councillors, mayors and councillors. In the current Senate there is a conservative majority. The Republicans (LR) are the main party, while the RN does not have any senators. This time he does aspire to enter the Upper House. In any case, it is a symbolic presence – although well paid – because when push comes to shove, the most important decisions end up being made by the National Assembly, which is elected by universal suffrage every four years.
