The wall between the far right and the right was lately holding only thanks to a few stones. On Tuesday, June 11, the president of the Les Républicains (LR) party, Eric Ciotti, pulled away the last pebbles, claiming on French television to have forged an "alliance with the Rassemblement National" and hoping that "all outgoing LR MPs will join forces" with the Rassemblement National "to preserve a powerful group in the Assemblée Nationale."
It was not the first time that a right-wing politician who has been losing ground in his constituency has sought to save his seat by going against the principles he defended. But Ciotti isn't any elected official. He is the heir to the Gaullist party, whose presidents have all been at pains to maintain a cordon sanitaire against the far-right Rassemblement National (RN), because the RN has based its doctrine on national preference and the rejection of foreigners, thereby threatening the core principle of fraternity.
In the current context of resentment and tension, Ciotti's transgression is a dangerous surrender. "Extremism is poison," Jacques Chirac reminded us when he left the Elysée, seven years after the shock of April 21, 2002, when Jean-Marie Le Pen, who co-founded the far-right party, qualified for the second round of the presidential election.
Bare minimum
A closely guarded secret until the last moment, Ciotti's proclamation opened the breach that Marine Le Pen had been waiting for to blow up LR, capture some of its elected representatives and do away with what was once the great party of the Republican Right. Of course, many LR leaders were quick to express their indignation, including Sénat president Gérard Larcher, LR senators' president Bruno Retailleau, former European Commissioner Michel Barnier and Laurent Wauquiez, who was forced to relinquish the leadership of LR in 2019.
But the pressure didn't stop the current LR president from clinging to his post to continue his dirty work. The situation has deteriorated to such an extent that LR regional president Xavier Bertrand, who is firmly opposed to any alliance, has called for a vote to try to clarify the situation.
Ciotti's act of betrayal on Tuesday was by no means inevitable. Reduced to a bare minimum since 2017, LR has had the opportunity to flex its muscles over the past two years because, as part of the relative majority, French President Emmanuel Macron needed it to push through his pension reform, immigration law and budget savings. LR rejected the role of pivotal group, or even partner, due to its divisions, its visceral anti-Macronism and the slow drift of its doctrine. From 2010 onward, its leaders – Nicolas Sarkozy, François Fillon, Wauquiez and Ciotti – overemphasized the central themes of immigration, security and national identity, which served as fuel for the RN. More recently, LR's European positioning and economic line have lost much of their legibility, further increasing its vulnerability.
If it materializes in the next few days, this rupture will have a major impact on the political landscape. Beyond its differences, the left will find it a powerful lever for unity and mobilization. Caught between two blocs, the center risks shrinking if it doesn't find a solution. By unleashing the demons of the right, the dissolution of the Assemblée Nationale has launched a battle whose full implications have yet to be fully appreciated.