Paris The moment of comeback for Marion Maréchal has come. “When France invites you to a rendez-vous, you don’t hesitate, you go. That’s why I’m here,” said the 32-year-old on Sunday at a meeting with far-right politician Eric Zemmour in the Zenith concert hall in Toulon. Maréchal and Zemmour performed hand in hand in front of 8000 supporters.
In France it is said that Maréchal betrayed his own family. She was once the youngest MP in the country at the age of 22, representing her aunt’s far-right Front National (FN) party. Maréchal was courted like a star by foreign media such as the controversial US TV station “Fox”, and there were even rumors in her homeland that she could one day become president.
Now she is being pushed back into politics. Maréchal is tasked with improving Zemmour’s image after he faced criticism for his pro-Russian stance on the Ukraine crisis.
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Maréchal has been hesitating for a few weeks now – should she support Zemmour or her aunt? “I won’t lie, the decision was difficult,” she admitted in Toulon. In the end it was a question of “political perspective” and attitude. The daily newspaper “Le Monde” commented that it was a “risky bet by Marion Maréchal on Eric Zemmour”.
Retirement from politics 2017
Maréchal retired from politics in 2017, leaving her aunt’s party after Marine Le Pen lost to Emmanuel Macron in the second round of the presidential election.
The two women have been close for a long time. Born in the posh Parisian suburb of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Maréchal is the daughter of Yann Le Pen, one of Marine’s two older sisters. In her childhood, Maréchal had spent a lot of time with Le Pen. Le Pen says that the current departure is “brutal”.
Maréchal, on the other hand, was confident and beaming in Toulon, pregnant with her second child, who is expected in the summer. Her second marriage is to the far-right Italian MEP Vincenzo Sofo.
After leaving politics, Maréchal, who had studied law at the elite university Panthéon-Assas in Paris, opened a political college “for like-minded people” in Lyon, but it did not do well economically. Maréchal, who admired the conservative ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy at the beginning of her political career, repeatedly spoke of a “great union of the right” that she wants to create.
Zemmour takes this line with his party Renconquête (reconquest), he wants to create a connection between right-wing extremists and traditionally thinking right-wingers. On the appearance of his new prominent supporter, he tweeted: “Marion, you are a free French, you fight for a free France. And I’m happy to welcome you today in Toulon.” Zemmour’s anti-refugee ideology appeals to a patriotic and bourgeois constituency.
Conflicts with her aunt, Marine Le Pen
In the past, Maréchal had conflicts with her aunt, who wanted to improve the party’s image and introduced a more moderate course. The party was even renamed the Rassemblement National. Maréchal often disagreed.
Zemmour, on the other hand, finds himself in line with Maréchal: both appeal to France’s Catholics, are tradition-conscious, uphold French identity against outside influences, are reactionary on social issues and liberal on economic issues.
Maréchal shares Zemmour’s dislike of Islam and immigration. Like him, she raved about Russian President Vladimir Putin: “Putin is a patriot. He’s defending the rights of his country,” she said in 2014 as a young MP.
Maréchal’s betrayal is a heavy blow for Marine Le Pen. Because her niece isn’t the only one who has turned her back on her and defected to Zemmour. Also among the renegades were Gilbert Collard and Nicolas Bay, who were part of Le Pen’s first guard.
In June, after the presidential elections in France, there will be parliamentary elections. Then Maréchal is apparently hoping for a new mandate – as a member of parliament for Zemmour’s party.
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