French authorities led an investigation into the far-right leader Marine Le Pen on suspicion of illicit financing during his campaign for the 2022 presidential elections.
The investigation was opened after a 2023 report from the National Commission on Campaign Accounts and Political Financing, the agency in charge of monitoring election campaign spending. In the French elections, Candidates are prohibited from spending more than a certain amount.
In April 2022, Emmanuel Macron began his second term as France’s presidentbeating Le Pen in the second round by a margin of 17.1 pp. Both candidates had already faced each other in the 2017 electionsin which the current president was also crowned the winner but with the 66.1% of the votes.
Le Pen is under investigation for fraud, embezzlement and document forgery
The investigation began on July 2 after suspicions that the political leader accepted a financial loan. It also includes five other crimes among which possible embezzlement, fraud and forgery of documents. For her part, Le Pen has not yet commented on the matter.
According to local press, the leader of the National Regrouping (RN) She is not the only candidate in the 2022 campaign which is being investigated. The far-right party was accused of exaggerating expenses of the candidates in the 2012 legislative elections. The Court of Cassation rejected the party’s appealwho was fined.
The far right came third in the 2024 legislative elections
Although in the first round of the legislative elections that were held early this year, the Marine Le Pen’s far-right party came in first place, in the second round the results changed.
RN came in third placebehind the left-wing coalition New Popular Front (NFP) and Macron’s centrist camp. This was a surprising result, given that the RN had been leading in the polls before Sunday’s vote. The split in the vote reflects a growing polarisation in French politics, with a strengthened left and a far-right that failed to capitalise on its early lead in the polls.
Le Pen attributed the party’s defeat to tactical voting between the NFP and Macron’s party, claiming that this strategy of opposing voters prevented his party from winning more seats. “Our victory has been delayed”the far-right leader told television channel TF1, suggesting that although they did not achieve their goals this time, they will continue to fight for their ideals in future elections.
Source: Ambito
