Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder and former president of the former French National Front (today: National Consolidation), has been placed under guardianship for health reasons, Louis Aliot, the vice-president of the National Consolidation, announced on Wednesday.
Jean-Marie Le Pen’s health has deteriorated significantly since his heart attack / Photo: AFP
The civil legal measure corresponding to the guardianship was initiated in court by the family of the 95-year-old party founder based on a medical opinion that established Jean-Marie Le Pen’s deterioration. Based on the order, his three daughters – Marie-Caroline, Yann and Marine Le Pen – are now his representatives, and they can act on behalf of their father individually or jointly.
The health of the former party chairman has deteriorated significantly since his heart attack a year ago.
Between 1972 and 2011, Jean-Marie Le Pen was the president of the National Front he founded, in which he managed to unite the different trends of the historical French extreme right, from the supporters of French Algeria to those who feel nostalgia for the Vichy government led by Philippe Pétain, who collaborated with Nazi Germany . He was repeatedly convicted of racism and anti-Semitism due to his verbal expressions, but in 2002 he managed to enter the second round of the French presidential election, which was won by the center-right Jacques Chirac.
Under the leadership of Marine Le Pen, the daughter of the party president and founder, who has always reached the second round in the last three presidential elections, the National Front’s successor, the National Consolidation, has become France’s largest opposition party. Marine Le Pen leads Macron ahead of June’s European Parliament elections. The big question is whether the far-right leader’s rally will last until the 2027 presidential election.
