He remains legally the president of the Republicans. The Paris judicial court canceled this Friday the exclusion of Éric Ciotti from LR. The court, ruling in summary proceedings (emergency procedure), “orders the suspension of the effects of the two definitive exclusion decisions pronounced against Eric Ciotti on June 12 and 14”, indicated the court, specifying that this suspension was only valid “until the rendering of a final decision on the merits”. The lower court must be seized “within eight days” by “the most diligent party”, indicated the court, failing which “the suspension measure ordered will be null and void”.
In an interview given to AFP during the evening, Eric Ciotti declared after this decision what he repeats from the announcement of his ouster: “Justice has spoken, I am president of the Republicans”. And to continue: “For me this decision was legally obvious, what was done was a form of amateurism and an attempt to take power which did not rest on any legal basis,” insisted the deputy for Alpes-Maritimes, specifying that he was going to “lead this legislative election campaign to ensure the triumph of the alliance of the rights to beat the extreme left which represents a major danger for our country”.
Earlier this Friday, the civil hearing, in the absence of Éric Ciotti, Annie Genevard or François-Xavier Bellamy, vice-president of the party, illustrated the explosion of the formation which was that of Nicolas Sarkozy.
“I cannot receive a double constitution”
While two lawyers claimed to represent LR, President Maïté Grison-Pascail became annoyed. “I cannot receive a dual constitution,” she explained to the councils who are stuck to their position. Suspension, call to a representative of the President of Paris… Finally the court will hear all the parties including the two lawyers claiming to represent the party.
The first to speak was Eric Ciotti’s lawyer, Me Philippe Prigent, for whom the exclusion of his client’s party is not based on any regulatory text. “We learned that Éric Ciotti was once again excluded by the political office this morning,” continued the lawyer at the bar. “This means that the previous exclusion, on June 12, has no value,” he quipped, “you don’t revoke it twice.”
According to Me Philippe Prigent, the political bureau could only be convened at the request of Éric Ciotti or that of “at least a quarter of the national advisors” of the party. “The political bureau met in defiance of the texts,” he argues. “Did the president (Éric Ciotti) request his own exclusion? I don’t believe it,” insisted the lawyer, who claimed to have “never found so many irregularities in a file in twenty-four hours.”
“Nothing allows François-Xavier Bellamy and Annie Genevard to lead the party. There is no legal basis for usurping power and making decisions (…) It is particularly serious,” he assured, referring to a “putsch”. He requested that the court take precautionary measures to allow his client to move freely “and in complete safety” within LR’s premises. “My client is 1.60 m tall, he is 60 years old, he doesn’t want to get his face broken! “, he said.
Money demanded from Bellamy and Genevard
Me Philippe Torre introduced himself as LR’s lawyer… Ciotti tendency. “Who knows Annie Genevard? “, he quipped while waiting for the debates to resume. “The LRs that I represent have no difficulty in terms of presidency: Éric Ciotti is their president. The only difficulty is that he would like to access his premises,” he pleaded at the bar. He relied on the party statutes which, according to him, do not provide for the position of “interim president”. He demanded 100,000 euros in penalty payments for Annie Genevard and 50,000 euros for François-Xavier Bellamy each time Éric Ciotti was prevented from reaching his office.
The president also gave the floor to LR’s other lawyer, Me Benoît Verger, who defends the new management. By announcing an electoral alliance with the National Rally (RN) with a view to the early legislative elections, Éric Ciotti made a “lonely” decision which sowed “stupor” within his party.
VideoAfter his crazy day, LR (re)convenes an office to “validate” the exclusion of Éric Ciotti
The lawyer was categorical: Éric Ciotti “did not have the statutory power” to make such an alliance decision with the RN. The deputy for Alpes-Maritimes committed “a serious error” and that is why he was “sanctioned”, explained Me Verger. Ciotti “violated the statutes” of his own party by changing his “political orientation,” he said.
While its leaders are torn apart, LR continues the inaugurations of its candidates in the legislative elections of June 30 and July 7. In a press release released Thursday evening, the party assured that it had already designated more than 200 candidates, including the 59 outgoing deputies who did not follow their president. For his part, the president of the RN, Jordan Bardella, announced Friday that “there will be a common candidate” RN-Republicans “in 70 constituencies” during the first round on June 30.
