The Council of State on Monday March 11 rejected a request from the National Rally, which contested its attachment to the “extreme right” in the classification of candidates for the September senatorial elections carried out by the Ministry of the Interior. The high court, which ruled on the merits, confirmed a first decision rendered in summary proceedings in September.
The party chaired by Jordan Bardella considered that the circular from the Ministry of the Interior which classified his party’s candidates in the “extreme right” bloc undermined the “sincerity of the vote”.
According to the movement founded by Jean-Marie Le Pen, the text also disregarded the principle of equality “in that it creates an unjustified difference in treatment” with the PCF and LFI, classified in the “left” bloc – Lutte Ouvrière or the NPA being classified as “extreme left”.
If the candidates can freely choose their nuance, in this case “National Rally”, the attribution of the blocs (“extreme left”, “left”, “others”, “center”, “right” or “extreme right”) falls under the prefectures, for the purposes of “electoral analysis” and “readability of election results for citizens”, recalled the ministry in its circular.
“By attaching the political nuance “National Rally” to the “extreme right” bloc of divisions, the attacked circular does not disregard the principle of sincerity of the vote, which the attribution of a political nuance different from the political label does not affect not, and is not tainted by any manifest error of assessment,” considered the administrative judges in their decision.
“It does not disregard, in any case, the principle of equality by making such a connection, while attributing the “left” nuance to the political groups “French Communist Party” and “La France insoumise””, a again argues the Council of State.
