The traditional French right expels its leader Éric Ciotti for allying with Le Pen’s extreme right

The head of the party The Republicans, Éric Ciotti, was unanimously expelled from his party on Wednesday, according to party leader Annie Genevard. The reason: to ask for an electoral alliance between the candidates of his group and the far-right National Group (RN) of Marine Le Pen, with the intention of participating together in the legislative elections at the end of the month.

Eric Ciotti It took him barely an hour to respond to the decision and challenge his expulsion: “I am and continue to be the president of our political party, elected by its members,” he declared in a statement published on X (former Twitter). Furthermore, he attaches a statement with LR’s own emblems to allege that a step of this caliber cannot be taken without the prior approval of the president. “We carry the voice of right-wing citizens, ignored and confiscated for too long,” reads this note.

Ciotti, also a deputy for Alpes-Maritimes, denounced a “flagrant violation [de] the party statutes. He argued, in particular, that the party leadership could only meet at the request of the “president of the movement”, “or at the initiative of a quarter of the members of the National Council, on a specific agenda, under the conditions provided for by the Rules of Procedure”.

On June 11, the leader of Los Republicanos had provoked the indignation of his party leaders by declaring on TF1: “We need an alliancewithout ceasing to be ourselves, […] with the National Rally and its candidates”, adding that he had held discussions on the matter with Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella.

Previously, he had already challenged the validity of the meeting of the leadership of Los Republicanos, called that afternoon by the number two of the party, Annie Genevard, with a view to dismissing him. The head of LR closed the headquarters and ordered the staff of the political group to telework so that the assembly would not be held.

[La derecha francesa estalla tras la decisión de Éric Ciotti de asociarse con Marine Le Pen]

“By carrying out secret negotiations, without consulting our political family and our militants, Éric Ciotti completely breaks the statutes and the line defended by LR,” said Genevard at the end of the meeting, which was not held at the headquarters. of the party, theoretically closed for security reasons – according to Ciotti’s own version -.