Eric Ciotti has finally decided to turn the page with Les Républicains (LR), announcing his departure from the party in an interview with Le Figaro on Sunday, September 22. After months of tensions within the party, exacerbated by his controversial alliance with the National Rally (RN) during the legislative elections, the former president of the right-wing party is bowing out.
This decision comes in a climate of general discontent within LR, with many members having strongly criticized his choice to ally with the RN. However, Ciotti had begun a long political and legal battle to keep his position at the head of the party. He now justifies his resignation by pointing out what he perceives as the ” Dissolution of the Republican general staff in Macronie »believing that the party has lost its identity by collaborating with Emmanuel Macron’s government.
” This government is not a government of cohabitation, it is a Macronist government, with a few LR as alibis “, he said, denouncing the president’s stranglehold on the political scene. Ciotti also mentioned the recent composition of the Barnier government, which includes figures close to Macron as well as some members of LR. According to him, this reshuffle proves that the President of the Republic retains total control despite his electoral defeats. He accuses Emmanuel Macron of having managed to stay in power ” by trickery “.
This departure marks the end of a battle that could have had a judicial epilogue. While the courts were due to rule in October on a hearing concerning Ciotti’s presidency at the head of the party, he chose to end this quarrel by announcing his departure. I have won three times, I had no concerns about the outcome of the hearing, but this battle no longer has any meaning since I will leave the presidency before this date. ” he explained.
Despite this resignation, Eric Ciotti is not giving up on politics. He continues to defend his project of a union of the right, calling on voters to join him in the Union of the Right for the Republic (UDR), which he recently renamed. The UDR already has more than 10,000 members, and in a few days, we will outnumber the LR “, he said, reiterating his commitment to building a political alternative within the French right.
