The candidate of the French far-right National Front party for the presidency of France will be its leader, Jordan Bardella, if his mentor and the party's historical leader, Marine Le Pen, is ultimately disqualified and does not participate in the elections.
In an interview on Saturday with the newspaper Le Parisien, Bardella said that if Le Pen fails to run for the 2027 elections, he will succeed her himself, of course with her support.
Le Pen, who is considered the "face" of the French far-right, suffered a serious blow in late March when she was convicted, along with other members of her party, in the case of fake jobs in the European Parliament.
She was sentenced to five years of deprivation of political rights, four years in prison and a 100,000 euro fine, after the court ruled that she was at the "epicenter" of the system of misuse of public funds by which, between 2004 and 2016, party employees were paid with European Parliament funds.
Le Pen hopes that the Appeal will be heard quickly and will overturn or modify the sentence, allowing her to run for President.
However, Bardella, who is only 29 years old and is considered Le Pen's "puppet" or her "son" in politics, insisted during his interview that he will be the National Front's candidate for the presidency if she cannot run.
"There is no doubt that Marine Le Pen is our candidate, but if she cannot be a candidate, I think I can tell you that I will be her candidate," he told the newspaper. "I cannot be clearer than that," Bardella added, stressing " the imperative need to be united ." (A2 Televizion)
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