Jordan Bardella, president of the French hard-right party National Rally (RN) has stated that any RN candidate for the next national election must have a clean criminal record.
The statement on November 18 surfaced when he was questioned about the controversial past of certain RN candidates in the last French legislative ballot.
He asserted that moving forward, any RN candidate should have a clean slate.
“Not having a criminal conviction on one’s record is, in my opinion, the number one rule for anyone wishing to be a parliamentarian,” he declared.
Marine Le Pen faces potential prison time and a ban from public office for alleged embezzlement of EU funds. https://t.co/qrB2xAfckv
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) November 14, 2024
When asked if this rule applied to RN de facto head Marine Le Pen, who is on trial for alleged embezzlement of European Union funds, Bardella stated that if she was convicted, the party would file an appeal.
“If the judges decide to convict, whatever the sentence, there will be an appeal,” he said, adding that any such appeal would not confirm a conviction because “Marine Le Pen is totally innocent”.
Le Pen has made no secret that she wants to run in the 2027 French presidential election.
So far, the party has rejected RN MEP Jean-Philippe Tanguy as a candidate for the contest.
Bardella, though, is next in line having led the party for two European elections and the most recent French parliamentary ballot.
According to Le Pen’s special adviser Philippe Olivier, the 29-year-old Bardella is “one of the main cards of the party”.
In an interview on November 14 with Brussels Signal, Philipe Olivier argued he was one of the stars of the party due to his successful political campaigns in the 2019 and 2024 European Parliament elections.
