The leader of Chega, André Ventura, has responded to the conviction of far-right French leader Marine Le Pen, with whom he is allied in the European Parliament group, European Patriots, asserting that “those suspected of misappropriating public funds should not seek re-election.” Ventura also drew a parallel between Le Pen’s situation and that of Luís Montenegro.
“If I don’t believe Luís Montenegro should seek re-election due to suspicions of receiving undue payments while he was prime minister, I cannot say otherwise about someone suspected of diverting public funds for partisan use. If suspicions are confirmed, individuals suspected of public fund misappropriation should not be candidates. We are already mired in corruption, but Marine Le Pen will make the decision she finds appropriate,” explained Ventura while in Setúbal after meeting with local merchants.
However, Ventura acknowledges that the news is “not favorable” for the European Patriots, of which Chega is also a member, and warns of “the risks of ineligibility being used as a means to remove political opponents.”
“We’ve seen this in Brazil, in France, and I hope the judiciary understands it should not replace democracy,” added Ventura.
The far-right French leader plans to appeal her sentence of four years in prison and a five-year ban from running for elections, her lawyer announced on Monday.
Despite the appeal, Marine Le Pen is now unable to hold public office, a measure that left her lawyer “deeply distressed,” regretting that it is not subject to appeal, which he described as a “vicious cycle.”
The leader of the National Rally parliamentary group in the French National Assembly was sentenced to four years of imprisonment, two of which are unsuspended and under electronic monitoring, along with a fine of 100,000 euros and five years of ineligibility.
Le Pen and eight French MEPs from the National Rally were found guilty by the Paris Court of misappropriating 4.1 million euros of public funds from the European Parliament.
The new appeal trial does not have a fixed schedule and could occur shortly before the 2027 presidential campaign or even later, potentially hindering Le Pen’s candidacy, although she has yet to announce her strategy.
The latest update on this article occurred at 4:23 PM.
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