The French radical opposition has long had one huge problem – Marine Le Pen. She has never been able to perform with the charm expected of a top politician in France, she has embarrassed herself in debates and has been considered stupid. A more astute candidate would have easily beaten Macron.
But what does it matter if Mrs Le Pen sovereignly controlled her party (so that no rival could grow) and her party was so strong that no other opposition movement could grow alongside it.
So that problem is over. The Paris court has prepared a gift for the radical opposition. In an apparently trumped-up trial (Le Pen was not accused of stealing money, but of reporting it in the wrong boxes, more than 10 years ago), Marin banned Le Pen from running in the next presidential election, opening up space for stronger candidates.
In other circumstances, we might speculate whether there is some collusion behind this. But after what we have seen in the context of the war against Russia, this is hardly surprising.