Overview
- Marine Le Pen was convicted in the assistants case in Paris, receiving four years in prison including two firm, a €100,000 fine and an immediate five-year ineligibility, with an appeal scheduled from 13 January to 12 February.
- Le Pen cast Jordan Bardella, 30, as a viable presidential alternative, saying he faces an extraordinary campaign of denigration but has her full confidence.
- She urged an immediate return to the polls, accusing President Emmanuel Macron of refusing to dissolve the National Assembly despite a deep rupture with voters.
- Le Pen criticized the special law adopted in the absence of a state budget, saying it masks a total blockage and leaves the government dependent on the Socialist Party, which she described as governing by blackmail.
- She said she would petition the Constitutional Council directly in the event of a dissolution, citing its role as the sole judge of a candidacy’s validity in urgent situations.