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Le Pen’s 2022 campaign finances under investigation by French authorities
The allegations include charges of embezzlement, forgery, fraud and allegations that a candidate in an election campaign accepted a loan.
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Marine Le Pen takes part in a debate on France’s sovereignty, nationality, immigration and asylum, called by the right-wing Les Republicans party at the National Assembly in Paris on December 7, 2023. (AFP)
French investigators have launched an inquiry into the far-right leader’s campaign finances Marine Le Pen during his unsuccessful 2022 presidential election campaign against Emmanuel Macron. This development comes amid ongoing discussions among left-wing politicians in France about the potential formation of a government.
On Tuesday, the Paris prosecutor’s office announced it had opened an investigation last week into Le Pen’s campaign financing. The allegations include accusations of embezzlement, forgery, fraud and claims that a candidate in an election campaign accepted a loan. Further details were not released.
Le Pen and her party have previously denied any wrongdoing related to campaign financing.
The initial investigation was launched after a notification from the CNCCFP, a national commission responsible for monitoring campaign finances, to the Public Prosecutor’s Office last year.
Dive deeper
In the 2022 elections, Marine Le Penthen leader of the far-right anti-immigration National Rally (RN) party, faced Emmanuel Macron in the second round and was defeated. In December 2022, the commission raised objections to expenses related to the installation and removal of campaign materials on 12 buses, labeling them “irregular”. Le Pen initially contested this decision, but later withdrew her appeal.
After a snap election on Sunday night in which Ms. Le Pen’s far-right movement was curbed by tactical voting, French politicians are deliberating over forming a government, with no single group securing an outright majority. The left-wing coalition, the New Popular Front (NFP), which ranges from the staunchly left-wing La France Insoumise to the more centrist Greens, Communists and Socialists, is still discussing potential candidates for prime minister and the possibility of forming a broader coalition.
Although the left has a slight lead over Macron’s centrist bloc and Le Pen’s far-right RN, they are still about 100 seats short of a majority in parliament. The current parliament is divided between three closely balanced political forces: the left, the centrists and the far right.
Any prospective government would require some form of coalition. There is uncertainty over whether a left-wing prime minister could secure the confidence of parliament.
According to Socialist MP Boris Vallaud speaking on France Inter, any left-wing government would require “broader support in the National Assembly”.
“None of the three leading blocs can govern alone,” Stephane Sejourne, head of Macron’s Renaissance party, wrote in Le Monde. He suggested that the centrist bloc could now try to form its own coalition and join with some parts of the center-left while refusing to work with others that are further to the left.
“The centrist bloc is ready to talk to all members of the Republican spectrum,” he added.
Sejourne declared that any coalition members must endorse the EU and Ukraine while also advocating business-friendly policies. Such requirements, he said, would “necessarily exclude” La France Insoumise and its firebrand founder Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
After a meeting of the centrist group, Renaissance lawmaker Pierre Cazeneuve told Reuters: “We reaffirm our red lines: no agreement with La France Insoumise and no agreement with the National Rally.”
Why does this matter?
Gabriel Attal will remain prime minister as long as the country remains without a new government, but discussions on how to form some kind of coalition could take weeks.
Macron called early elections last month after his centrists were defeated by the far right in the European elections. He said at the time that the nation needed “clarity.” But political uncertainty could drag on into the summer.
On Tuesday, Mélenchon accused Macron of intentionally “blocking the situation to maintain power for as long as possible.”
Socialist leader Olivier Faure expressed readiness for his name to be considered for prime minister, but added: “That would be decided in dialogue with our partners. I do not agree with anyone imposing their point of view on others.”
Yael Braun-Pivet, the former centrist leader of parliament, told France Inter radio: “Mathematically, democratically, no one can govern alone today.” She said a coalition of different parties must agree on a handful of priority projects for next year.
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