Brussels – First the Republican Party and now Reconquête, the French right is in turmoil: the search for new alliances ahead of the upcoming legislative elections (June 30 and July 7) has resulted in the defenestration of several key figures. After the disputed expulsion of Éric Ciotti, president of the Republicans, from his party, it was the turn of Marion Maréchal, excluded from Reconquête after running as a leading candidate in the European elections. The apple of discord in both cases is the search for an alliance with the Rassemblement National (RN) of Jordan Bardella.
During an interview on French television BFMTV, the leader and founder of the far-right Reconquête formation, Éric Zemmour, announced the expulsion of Marion Maréchal and those close to her. In the European elections, the far-right party (which ran under the name La France Fière) managed to win 5.5 percent of the vote, electing five MEPs, which increased the Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group.
Zemmour has always strived to unify the French right and make it run with a single list. With elections approaching, he had given Marion Maréchal the task of negotiating with the Rassemblement National. The newly elected MEP, however, failed to reach an understanding, accusing Zemmour of making too many demands and announcing that she would support the united candidates of the Rassemblement National and the Republican Party. Maréchal’s statement sparked the ire of Zemmour, who said he was “hurt and disgusted” and decided to expel her from the party.
A Matter of Family
Marion Maréchal, therefore, will support the Rassemblement National in the upcoming legislative elections. A return to the fold, considering she is the granddaughter, through her mother, of Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of the Front National (FN) and Marie’s father. Maréchal was a member of FN (the name of the Rassemblement National until 2018), with which she was elected to parliament in 2012, becoming, at only 22 years of age, the youngest representative in the history of Republican France. Gradually, however, she drifted away from politics, eventually withdrawing in 2017. Two years later, with Éric Zemmour, she launched a political entity to bring the Gaullist right closer and uniting with the Front National. Maréchal initially said she did not want to re-engage in politics, but in 2022, she became Vice-President of Reconquête.
“It is the world record of betrayal,” Zemmour said of Maréchal’s choice, adding, “I was the one who designated her as the leading candidate in the European elections. She received many donations from Reconquête militants whom she betrayed with her choice.” The new MEP said she did not join FN but expressed her support for the right’s single list. Furthermore, Maréchal expressed her desire not to run for the legislature but to bring the reasons of the French citizens who elected her to Strasbourg.
Maréchal’s “return to the fold,” as Zemmour called it, is likely to complicate Reconquête’s election campaign. For the party to succeed in electing its candidates to the National Assembly, it must win in the uninominal constituencies, obtaining either an absolute majority in the first round or a relative majority in the second. It is a difficult mission considering that at the latest legislative elections in 2022, Reconquête obtained 4 percent in the first round and, in addition to failing to elect any deputies, it did not even make it to the second ballot. Therefore, Maréchal dropping out risks taking away votes that could prove decisive in a majoritarian system where those who take one more vote elect their candidate, and those who lose are left high and dry.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub“It’s the world record for betrayal”: Éric Zemmour’s reaction to Marion Maréchal’s call for a “union of the right” pic.twitter.com/k3Iws2H5DP
— BFMTV (@BFMTV) June 12, 2024
