French far-right leader Le Pen could run for president if ineligibility lifted on election day: Report

France's far-right leader Marine Le Pen could run for president if her ineligibility sentence is lifted on election day set for April 2027, broadcaster BFM TV revealed Wednesday.

Le Pen consulted lawyers to find out which date should be considered to be eligible for the next presidential election while waiting for the decision of the Paris Court of Appeal, expected on July 7 in the case of the European Parliament members of her National Rally (RN) party, BFM TV learned from local sources.

Lawyers noted that Le Pen must be eligible on the day of the election to run as a candidate.

If her ineligibility sentence is thus reduced from five to two years next July, she could therefore run as a candidate, since the first round of the presidential election is expected to take place in April.

In March last year, Le Pen was sentenced to four years in prison, two of them under house arrest with an electronic tag, fined €100,000 ($118,229) and banned from holding public office for five years, effective immediately.