Court Ban Expires, France’s Far-Right Leader Marine Le Pen to Make Fourth Presidential Bid | WPN World People News

French far-right National Rally leader Marine Le Pen, who has been embroiled in a legal case over the alleged embezzlement of public funds, announced on the 7th that she will run in the 2027 French presidential election.

Earlier the same day, the Paris Court of Appeal ruled on her case, reducing her original five-year ban on running for public office to 15 months, a period that has already been served. However, she was sentenced to one year of home detention under electronic monitoring. The ruling effectively removes the legal obstacle preventing her from contesting the next presidential election.

Le Pen immediately announced that she would run on a joint ticket with National Rally President Jordan Bardella. She also said she would appeal the ruling in an effort to suspend the one-year electronic monitoring sentence.

Now 57 years old, Le Pen has sought the French presidency three times over the past 15 years, reaching the runoff election twice before ultimately losing to Emmanuel Macron on both occasions. Macron, who is currently serving his second consecutive term, is constitutionally barred from seeking a third term, leading many observers to believe that this represents Le Pen’s best opportunity yet to win the presidency.

In recent years, support for the National Rally has continued to grow. The party secured the largest share of the vote in both the 2024 European Parliament election and the subsequent snap parliamentary election, making it the largest single party in the French National Assembly. According to opinion polls, if Le Pen is allowed to run, she is well positioned to win a second-round runoff against either far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon or centrist former prime ministers Gabriel Attal and Édouard Philippe.