A Paris suspended nulled the expulsion of the president of the right-wing party Les Républicains, Friday, June 14. Eric Ciotti was voted out Wednesday by the rest of the leadership after he broke a historic taboo this week, announcing that his party would form an alliance with the far-right Rassemblement National (RN).
Ciotti contested the legitimacy of the decision, arguing that party rules said only the president could call a meeting of the committee that voted to oust him. The members of the committee met again on Friday morning to vote again to expel him.
The court ordered "the suspension of the effects of the two definitive exclusions pronounced against Eric Ciotti on June 12 and 14," it said. It added the suspension was valid only "until the pronouncement of a definitive decision on the merits."
The court's decision means that Ciotti in the coming days can keep control of LR, with access to the party's offices and membership files, and make decisions on who to nominate in the upcoming snap elections.