Republicans expel their president Eric Ciotti

Brussels – Tensions within the Republican Party were high after its chairman, Éric Ciotti, had announced the decision to run in the upcoming elections for parliament (June 30 and July 7) with the Rassemblement National of Marin Le Pen and Jordan Bardella. Many Republicans did not like this choice, so today (July 12), the political committee decided the expulsion from the party of its chairman.

An emergency meeting of the political bureau of the Republican Party was held in the afternoon, which decided to expel Ciotti, accused of unilaterally deciding to open to the Rassemblement National (RN). The meeting was opposed by the president himself, who, citing security reasons, did not allow it in the party offices but forced Republicans to confront each other in the streets. The decision to expel Ciotti was taken unanimously, and the leadership of the party now passes to Annie Genevard, general secretary, and François-Xavier Bellamy, the European elections chief.

Ciotti claims that the action of the political bureau is illegal because it does not comply with any internal regulations. Not only that, the Republican chairman has reiterated that he does not want to resign and prospects criminal action against those who are trying to remove him from office. At the same time, Ciotti has launched an online campaign to collect signatures from Republican voters who want to proceed with the creation of a united right-wing front. The call to the party base has reportedly already reached more than 10,000 signatures, a sudden and probably irremediable rift within one of France’s right-wing parties.

Only hours before the decision of the Republicans’ political committee, French President Emmanuel Macron had called for democratic forces to break away from opposing extremisms. Parties of the radical right and left were able to reach 50 per cent of the vote in the last European elections. Time to submit candidate lists for the elections is tight; French law imposes a deadline of Sunday, June 16, and Éric Ciotti must, therefore, close the deal with the Rassemblement national before this date.

During an interview to TV station Cnews, the president of the Republicans declared that the pact with RN to present common candidates will be done on time. To those who accuse him of running with extremists, Ciotti replied, “The left, even the most radical left, unites: why can’t the right? It is our voters who ask us; when I walk the streets I meet many citizens who ask me why the right-wing parties do not unite.” Ciotti also claimed to be the forerunner in opening up to the Rassemblement National: “It is a courageous choice that had to be made; running alone would condemn us to impotence. For the last 20 years, my party has played a marginal role in French politics: this must change.”

Eric Ciotti: “I’m running with the label of my political family, Les Républicains, and I’m running with the label of my convictions, those of a right-wing man”, in #Facealinfo pic.twitter.com/DRNHswVplk
— CNEWS (@CNEWS) June 12, 2024