French President Macron rejected accusations that the country’s judicial system is biased after a ruling to ban Marine Le Pen from elections.
In his first comments since the controversial court ruling to ban longstanding rival Marine Le Pen from the next presidential election, French President Emmanuel Macron rejected accusations that the country’s judicial system is biased.
Speaking of Monday’s ruling from a Paris court to enact a five-year ban on National Rally leader Marine Le Pen from running in any election over alleged embezzlement of European Union funds, President Emmanuel Macron maintained that “justice is independent” in France.
According to French broadcaster BFMTV, Macron added that “everyone has the right to equivalent justice and that the right is the same for everyone.”
If it stands, the decision to ban Le Pen from electoral politics, even during the appeal process during which defendants in France are typically afforded the presumption of innocence, perhaps benefits Macron and his neo-liberal allies more than any other faction in the country.
Le Pen was Macron’s chief opponent in both the 2017 and 2022 presidential elections. According to the polls, she is currently in pole position to replace Macron when his second and final term in the Élysée Palace ends in 2027.
