Eric Ciotti announces creation of his own party… but remains president of the Republicans

DIt’s hard to forget the appalling images of Eric Ciotti locking himself in the Republicans’ office in Paris, while the rest of the party tried to oust him, during the legislative election campaign, reports La Voix du Nord. Disowned by the organization of which he is president, Éric Ciotti does not regret his choice to ally himself with the National Rally. Sixteen right-wing deputies were elected as part of this rapprochement.

“Lack of courage”

The courts are due to rule on 14 October to determine whether he can keep the presidency of LR. In the meantime, Éric Ciotti announced this Saturday that he was creating his own party, the Union of the Right for the Republic (UDR), without leaving LR, according to France Info. During his political comeback in Levens (Alpes-Maritimes), he declared that he wanted to “rebuild our political family”: “The Les Républicains brand is now outdated, discredited by its defeats, its contradictions, its lack of courage (…) Today, the UDR is reborn!”, he asserts, in reference to the Union of Democrats for the Republic, a Gaullist party founded in 1967.