Editorial - Marine Le Pen and the gravediggers of democracy

France may have seen the birth of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, after having destroyed its monarchy in the name of the sovereignty of the people, but it has not escaped the loss of democratic norms and its corruption in due form by those who claim to defend it.

The malaise has been palpable for several years in towns and countryside. Even the election of Emmanuel Macron in 2017, herald of a centre that would put an end to the stark divide between left and right, was the expression and consequence of it. The "yellow vest protests" followed, then the inexorable rise of the far right, the fragmentation of the electorate and last year's catastrophic dissolution.

Sometimes it takes a powerful event for a nagging evil to reveal itself in all its splendour. The conviction of Marine Le Pen, her party and 27 MEPs, false parliamentary assistants and collaborators brought the masks down on Monday. The reactions of the RN and the other parties show the extent of the damage. The Rassemblement National is contesting the verdict and calling it the political assassination of its figurehead – which has never been so close to its historic icon Joan of Arc. For Jordan Bardella, the party's president and potentially prime minister if Ms Le Pen had been elected President of the Republic, "it is French democracy that is being executed". For the RN's best enemy on the far right, Éric Zemmour, "it's not up to judges to decide who the people should vote for."