A Rising French Politician Tells the Sun That Her Country Must Not Succumb to ‘Extremism’

A city council member, Shannon Seban, of Rosny-sous-Bois — a suburb of Paris — tells The New York Sun that the ban of Marine Le Pen from running for the presidency of the Fifth Republic is a “condemnation that will make history.” Ms. Seban is just 29 years old but already a rising voice on the French scene. Ms. Seban, who is Jewish and of Algerian and Moroccan ancestry, is a member of President Macron’s Renaissance Party. She visited the Sun’s office to share her conviction that “French people do not believe enough in their country,” and that the only path forward is to “fight against extremism” of the right and left. In respect of Ms. Le Pen’s National Rally party, she insists that she “cannot forget” the party’s roots in Vichy.Ms. Le Pen was on Monday convicted of embezzlement for misusing European Union funds to pay party staff. The punishment includes a five-year ban on running for public office, which means that, unless the sentence is overturned on appeal, she cannot mount a bid for president of the Republic in 2027. The incumbent, Mr. Macron, is term-limited and cannot run again.Ms. Seban, who evinces an understated Parisian style, tells the Sun with respect to Ms. Le Pen that “democracy is not only about elections, it is also about respect for the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary.” She is particularly distressed by voices in the French Jewish community who have come to see the National Rally as less baleful than the left coalition led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, which is possessed by anti-Israel animus. Ms. Seban explains that Ms. Le Pen “is not the victim of a political plot, as some in her party want to make the public believe — she may be first and foremost the victim of herself and a system of embezzlement of public funds.” Of the National Rally, though, Ms. Seban insists that its members are “not angels.” She contends that Europe is at a “turning point of history” and that the Jews of France — and the country as a whole — must heed the “wakeup call” posed by the rising populist tide. She calls Monsieur Macron a “leader in Europe” and a “brave” leader for both France and Europe.France’s voters, though, appear to have less faith in Mr. Macron than does Ms. Seban. Parliamentary elections last year disclosed growing popularity for both Ms. Le Pen’s National Rally as well as Mr. Mélenchon’s France Unbowed party. Ms. Le Pen triumphed in the first round of voting after Mr. Macron called a snap election over the summer. The left regrouped and bested Ms. Le Pen in the second round of voting.The results forced the resignation of France’s prime minister, Gabriel Attal. A centrist, François Bayrou, now holds that position. Ms. Seban tells the Sun that she is dismayed by the co-option by Mr. Mélenchon of what she calls “the good left” by a hardline cadre. Ms. Seban has instead thrown in her lot with Mr. Macron’s Renaissance, where she serves as president for Sene-Saint-Denis, an area to the northeast of Paris.Ms. Seban’s duties as a member of the city council involve combating discrimination — she denounces “Islamist terror” but also opposes absolute bans on immigration — and designing policies true to France’s constitutional principle of laïcité, or secularism in respect of civil society.She calls that inheritance “precious” and contends that it redounds to religion’s benefit. Ms. Seban, who calls herself a “free woman,” tells the Sun, when pressed about her future electoral prospects, that she will “always seek to be useful where my country needs me.”

A Rising French Politician Tells the Sun That Her Country Must Not Succumb to ‘Extremism’

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