Le Pen's party chief calls on French people to rally against election ban

Far-right party chief Jordan Bardella called on the French to rally this weekend to protest against a ruling that banned Marine Le Pen from running for public office for five years after being found guilty of embezzling European Union funds.

Monday's ruling was a catastrophic setback for Le Pen, the long-time National Rally (RN) leader, who had been the front-runner in opinion polls for the 2027 presidential election.

"I believe today that the French must be outraged, and I tell them: Be outraged!," Bardella told Europe 1 radio and CNews TV over a ruling that far-right leaders said was biased and undemocratic.

"We'll take to the streets this weekend. We're organising leaflet distributions, democratic, peaceful, calm mobilisations," he said.

Bardella offered few details on the protests, other than saying that there would be leafleting and meetings "everywhere in France" and that RN lawmakers would hold news conferences in their constituencies.

On Tuesday, in Le Pen's stronghold of Henin-Beaumont, in northern France, local RN officials were handing out leaflets that read "Let's save democracy. Support Le Pen!"

Bardella could become the RN's de facto candidate for the 2027 election. But Le Pen made clear she was not yet ready to hand him the baton, saying on Monday: "I'm not going to let myself be eliminated like this." Bardella backed her on Tuesday.

Le Pen said she would appeal as soon as possible against what she described as a politicised ruling aimed at blocking her presidential bid. She has run three times for president and had said 2027 would be her final run for top office.

"We won't give in," Le Pen told RN lawmakers on Tuesday, saying that, with the ruling "the establishment" had used a "nuclear bomb" against her.

The judge in the court hearing on Monday, Benedicte de Perthuis, said Le Pen had been "at the heart" of a scheme to misappropriate more than 4 million euros ($4.3 million) of EU funds.

The lack of remorse by Le Pen and other defendants was among the reasons that prompted the court to ban them from running for office with immediate effect, de Perthuis said.

Le Pen was also given a four-year prison sentence - two years of which are suspended and two years to be served under home detention - and a 100,000-euro ($108,200) fine, but they will not apply until her appeals are exhausted. Appeals in France can take months or even years.

The defendants were not accused of pocketing the money but rather of using it illegally to pay the party's staff back home instead of EU parliamentary assistants. They denied wrongdoing and said the money was used legitimately.

Despite outrage over the ruling among the far right in France, Europe and beyond who were united in their condemnation of what they called judicial overreach, an opinion poll showed a majority of French people agreed with the ruling.

Some politicians, including former Socialist President Francois Hollande, said it was important to respect the independence of the judicial system.

Fifty-seven percent of those interviewed by Elabe pollsters said the ruling was normal considering what Le Pen was accused of, while 42% considered it was politically biased.

The poll, carried out for BFM TV, also showed that 42% of voters were happy with the ruling, with 29% unhappy - while 29% did not care.

In Henin-Beaumont, reactions to the ruling were mixed.

"It's a shame, it's a shame because we needed a different president, we needed the RN to win," 56-year-old resident Pascal Walkowiak said on Monday.

Another resident, Isabelle, 60, said: "Too bad for her. I think it's a good thing because she made mistakes. And well, there you go, she can't represent us, actually."

President Emmanuel Macron and his minority, centre-right government are yet to react officially. Prime Minister Francois Bayrou had told allies he was ill at ease with the ruling, a source said.

Pieyre-Alexandre Anglade, a lawmaker from Macron's Renaissance party, told Reuters he did not expect mass protests.

"Would you expect 300,000 people to march between La Bastille and Republique to support Le Pen? No," he said, referring to two Paris squares that often see big rallies.