If You Can't Beat 'em Ban 'em!

 

Breaking news! France has just done the unthinkable, yet inevitable. It has made a political prisoner out one of its most senior and longest sitting statespeople. No, this is not an April fool joke. Marine Le Pen, many times presidential candidate and leader of the biggest party in the French parliament, has been convicted of embezzlement of EU funds which for politicians is a bit like slapping somebody with a speeding fine at the French Grand Prix. Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy0ylgjew1xo. Like Boris Johnson, her prosecution was selective and has an underlying political motive, see: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2022/07/why-did-boris-fail.html. The same goes for Donald Trump, see: https://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2023/04/trump-in-court-livestream.html. I predicted this would happen after the elections last year. It left the country with a terrible political crisis and I said back then that they would put it on hold until the Paris Olympics were over; and then all hell would break loose, and it did, see: https://hpanwo-radio.blogspot.com/2024/12/third-rail-radio-programme-194.html. Where they failed with Trump they have succeeded with Le Pen. She has been sentenced to four years in prison with two suspended. So far she has not yet been locked up, pending an appeal; but she is banned from standing in elections for public office for five years, and that is probably the objective of the prosecution. What will happen now? Ironically, like with Trump, her martyrdom will probably add to her popularity. At the same time we must remember that France is a very different kind of political society to Britain. The French do not stop for tea and play games of cricket; they have revolutions instead. France is naturally a very unstable nation. In the background links I describe other aspects that might give clues to what the next outcome might be once the dust settles from this bombshell. Time will tell how this crisis will develop.
See here for background: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2022/04/french-election-2022-first-round.html.
And: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2021/05/a-warning-from-france_25.html.