The far-right presidential hopeful announced on Tuesday that she had suspended her campaign as she struggled to secure the necessary support from the country’s elected officials to make it to the ballot in April. French presidential candidates are required to acquire at least 500 letters of sponsorship from elected representatives including local mayors, MPs and councillors in order to run.
Le Pen said she has so far only managed to secure 393 such letters, according to the Conseil Constitutionnel where candidates submit the letters, although her campaign team claim she is nearer 460 signatures.
Le Pen published a video on Monday in which she appealed to Mayors to sponsor her candidacy and said she was 50 sponsorships short.
She said: “I’m appealing to the mayors: if you do not help me, millions of voters will be deprived of an election.
“Don’t let a major democratic scandal happen.”
Le Pen claims that the vote would have “no value” without her participation, adding: “The social situation is already eruptive and the institutions weaker than ever.
“It’s unthinkable that some politicians should be allowed to put pressure on our democracy to steal this election.
She said: “What sort of republic are we living in when I am deprived of my signatures although I am the main opponent of President Macron and although the opinion polls show that I am on the threshold of victory?”
Several press conferences and events for the National Rally, known as Rassemblement National, have been cancelled while campaign staff focus on garnering more letters of support, known as parrainages.
A member of Ms Le Pen’s team described the situation as a “red alert” as the election looms.
The final deadline for presidential candidates to submit these signatures of support is 4 March in a little over a week’s time.
Le Pen tweeted a video of her calling elected officials on Tuesday.
She tweeted: “Today, faced with the urgency of the sponsorships, I have contacted several mayors to convince them to grant me their sponsorship. It would be inconceivable that candidates who represent millions of French people could not run.
The National Rally leader is not the only candidate who is struggling to garner the support of France’s election officials.
Only six candidates have hit the target of 500 pledges so far including President Emmanuel Macron who is yet to officially announce his candidacy.
The others are Valérie Pécresse of the right-wing Les Republicains, the Socialist Party’s Anne Hidalgo, the Greens’ Yannick Jadot, the Communist Party’s Fabien Roussel and centrist Jean Lasalle.
Le Pen is currently polling second to President Macron at around 16-17 percent in the first round while the sitting president is projected to gain around 24-25 percent of the ballot.
President Macron is currently forecasting to win the run-off gathering 56-57 percent of the vote.
READ MORE: France election: ‘No candidate can match’ Macron
Le Pen’s rival the radical right-right candidate Éric Zemmour is also some way off hitting the target needed to run while Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the radical left France Unbowed party is also in danger of being excluded.
The three candidates are concerned they will not be able to make the ballot despite polling fairly well, which each forecasted to win more than 10 percent of the vote on 10 April.
Mr Zemmour, who had 350 pledges, is currently polling third while Melenchon, who has gained 442, is polling fifth.
Mr Zemmour cancelled a planned campaign trip to the island of La Reunion last week to secure more pledges.
He said: “It’s obviously a hindrance, it takes a lot of time, everyone is mobilised.”
They have been accused of crying wolf to gain media attention ahead of the vote as both Ms Le Pen and Mr Zemmour have called for pledges to be made anonymous in the past to encourage more officials to give their signatures.
MEP Jean-Lin Lacapelle, a spokesperson for Ms Le Pen, said: “Mayors are under a lot of pressure from departmental councils and communities of municipalities. The lifting of anonymity is terrible for democracy, as we can see the three of the most important candidates risk not getting their pledges.”
Another spokesperson for the National Rally, politician Sébastien Chenu, tweeted: “The very idea of her not being able to run for the presidency would pose quite a democratic problem.
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“She represents millions of voters and remains the only one who can beat Macron.”
Political observers outside France’s right-wing have also raised concerns about the democratic impact if popular candidates such as Le Pen are not able to run.
Senator Max Brisson told France Inter: “There is a real democratic problem if candidates who represent structured political forces cannot run in the presidential election.”
Prime Minister Jean Castex called on elected representatives to “bring their sponsorships” on Tuesday to enable candidates to run.
He stressed that the move “is not automatically synonymous with political support” for those reluctant to display their sponsorships as they are hesitant to be seen supporting particular candidates.
Prime Minister Castex said he planned to speak to associations of local elected representatives on Thursday morning to “discuss this situation together (…) because it is a deeply democratic issue”.
Additional reporting by Maria Ortega.