Marine Le Pen's appeal trial begins | Global News Podcast

Welcome to the Global News podcast on. YouTube where we go behind the headlines. of a story and tell you why it really. matters. I'm Anker Desai and on this. episode we're in France to ask the. question, could Maren Le Pen still. challenge for next year's French. presidency? A high sex court appeal by. the farright leader has begun in France. and she's challenging a decision that. banned her from running for public. office for 5 years. Let's dive deeper. into this with Hugh Scofield, our. correspondent in Paris. Hugh, a massive. moment for Marin Le Pen, but just tell.

us how she's got herself into this. precarious position. >> Right. Well, to answer that question, we. need to go back a year to the original. court case, the original trial at which. she was convicted. Um, and she was what. she was convicted of was kind of well, we're saying embezzlement. That means. misusing. public money. Uh, money that wasn't hers. or her parties. Now, not for her own. ends. There's no question of her. publicly, privately enriching herself uh.

in this way. It was money from the. European Parliament where she and her. party have had a number of seats. Money. that was supposed to go to pay for. parliamentary assistance in uh the in in. the European Parliament. She and her. party were systematically using to pay. their own staff members. Quite a. technical thing, but it's against the. law. Basically, she was using. parliamentary money to pay for her. party. for political political ends. Um. and as a result of this she and a number.

of her colleagues in her party uh were. convicted. It's the hardright party, the. populist right party, the nationalist. party, the anti-immigration party which. as everyone knows has been doing. extremely well in recent years in France. with parallels of course in other. countries around Europe. uh to the. extent where she personally is hotly. tipped uh as a future French president. Marine Le Pen who the the daughter of. Jean Marie Le Pen who founded this party.

so long ago. Uh it is not impossible. that were she able to run in the. election next year for the presidency to. take over from Emanuel Macarron that she. would win it. But along comes this court. case which has completely put the. kaibosh an old expression meaning ruined. her her hopes. Uh it said that she would. be ineligible to run for office for 5. years. This appeal therefore which has. started behind me in the p deist today. Tuesday.

which has started just behind me here. Wednesday. This appeal is her last. chance of getting that conviction and. that sentence overturned. so that she might have a chance to run. in next year's elections. >> And Hugh, this is really a pivotal. moment in Maren Le Pen's career as well. For people who don't know, you touched. upon it there, a huge legacy name in. French politics. Um, what are the. implications for her political career if. this appeal fails? >> Well, you of course you're absolutely.

right. I mean her name is synonymous. with her party was the national front. now it's a national rally she is someone. who has emerged. uh from her father's legacy in the last. 20 years uh you know for so long it was. Jean Maril Leen who dominated everything. with his far more. extreme and. loudmouthed aggressive form of farright. politics she has taken taken over his.

party, made it far more acceptable by. shunning and shedding she thinks his his. legacy. She says she's moved on from. that, [music] made it much more of a. mainstream hardright populist party. uh. and she has of course done that very. successfully because in the last 20. years uh it has gone from strength to. strength to the point where the national. rally renamed from the national front is. now over and over again proving this the.

biggest party in French politics. something inconceivable. 10 20 years ago but it it is the case. the RN national rally is the biggest. party in French politics wins elections. and could easily bring her to the. presidency uh next year. So, this. court case here is is pivotal for her. career. If if she gets the result she. hopes for, which is either an acquitt or.

a lesser sentence, she would be free to. run next year. And it's it's by no means. certain she would win it at all, but she. it would be the closest and best chance. she'll she'll ever likely have of. winning the election. She's run three. times in the past, already been beaten. each time because what happens to the. hardright populist right in France is. that invariably their enemies come. together to keep them out. Um, that's. far less likely to happen uh at a at. another election. It could still happen,

but it's it's becoming less and less. likely every time there is a new. election and their numbers keep going up. and up. So, it's a very strong chance. that the country could have an a. populist right uh president next year. That was her. If it if if the court does. not go her way though, she won't be able. to do that. She'll be banned from. running. And we have a whole different. kind of picture ahead of us with her. young left tenant Bardella taking over. the reigns. I'm sure we're about to talk.

about him now. >> Yes. And I wanted to mention Jordan. Bardella uh 30 years of age, her. protetéé, the president of her party and. with a lot of opinion poll suggesting in. France that if he were to lead the party. that they might stand a greater chance. of securing victory in the race for the. presidency next year. >> It's surprising, but it's true. Uh. George Anne Bardella on paper, if you. follow the polls, is actually a better. placed candidate than Marine Le Pen. I.

mean that's against all kind of. conventional wisdom. Um because everyone. has always said well hang on a sec. Marina Penn is a historic uh figure in. all this. She's brought the party. together. She's succeeded in making the. transition to being a kind of mainstream. populist right European party. Uh you. know she's got the courage, she's got. the name, she's got the fighting spirit. Um she she holds the party together and. without her it would split up into all. sorts of different factions. How how can. how could he, the 30-year-old who's.

never ever done anything except be a a. kind of politician, um how could how. could he and has never held office, how. how could he be better than her? Well, the truth is that apparently, and it may. well be to do with the changing nature. of our electorates, the changing nature. of the the media, the emergence of. social media and the ability to project. oneself on social media as such an. important factor in all of this. It. could be that that's what's changed. things, but the fact remains that in the.

polls he actually does better than she. does. Now, you've got to be slightly. careful here because, you know, there's. a these polls are taken now. I mean, it's all, you know, just up in the air. people can say whatever they want in a. campaign with all the pressures that. that brings and all the um questioning. and in you know analysis uh of of party. positions and the the need to project. yourself in debates with other much more. experienced party party leaders in in.

that environment would he thrive quite. so well that's a different different. matter and there are people who think. that he's a great and ideal candidate in. theory. In practice, it might still all come. crumbling down were he to take over from. Marine Le Pen as the as the hard rights. candidate in next year's election. But. all you can say is that right now, you. know, there is an immense strength in. the party. Um, and I say this not to. defend it, not to push it, just as a as. it's an observation. There's an immense.

strength in the party that it has two. people who seem quite happy to in to. interchange one to the other. Marine Le. Pen says if I can't do it, he'll do it. He says, "I'll do it if I have to, but. right now she's the candidate." You. know, they they are maintaining a a. united front which suggests, you know, that there is a, you know, a strength in. the party which other French parties do. not have. Other French parties. historically fall apart in bickering. between their leaders. These two leaders. of the national rally are pretty tight.

>> Hugh, appreciate your time. Thank you so. much. Hugh Scoffield, our Paris. correspondent. If you're interested in. more world stories like this, do check. out our global news podcast. You can. download it from wherever you get your. podcast from. And do give this video a. like and subscribe to our YouTube. channel for more content. Thanks so much. for your time.