DC Edit | Marine Le Pen faces huge crisis

They claim the rule book was thrown at her in convicting her of embezzlement. After a criminal court disqualified her from running for public office for five years, the far-right leader Marine Le Pen is now in the grip of the French legal system, and it is uncertain if she can win her battle in the in time for the 2027 polls, in which she could have been a frontrunner for President despite having failed in three attempts.

Whether this is the French empire striking back or the radical left abusing the legal system to jail opponents, as Elon Musk describes it, the fact is Marine Le Pen has been boxed into a corner with the French legal system, known for its independent-minded magistrates, her fiercest hurdle now.

The political environment being what it is after Donald Trump had trumped everything that the US system had in store for him by way of indictments, fines and convictions, and verdicts of the rule of law may not be accepted universally as they were meant to be. And yet, the French legal system appears to have thoroughly investigated Marine Le Pen and found her guilty of diverting $5 million of European parliament funds to the benefit of her political staff.

There is reason to believe that justice has prevailed in the matter of embezzlement. But, in a country given to public protests as seen in its history, Marine Le Pen’s conviction could be the next big flashpoint. The power to bring down the government of Prime Minister Francois Bayrou by way of a no-confidence motion and forcing an election is not beyond her.

The leader and her politics are not a new phenomenon in France. She has a following big enough to have put the National Rally in contention for power as the party, founded by her father Jean-Marie Le Pen, has the most seats in the lower house of parliament. She was kept out only by a coalition of political forces formed to do just that — keep the anti-immigrant far-right out.