Eric Ciotti, the leader of France's conservative party Les Républicains (LR), was expelled from his party on Wednesday, June 12, after he struck a deal with the far-right Rassemblement National ahead of snap elections, Le Monde has learned. "Les Républicains will present candidates to the French public with clarity and independence" for the June 30 and July 7 votes, said Annie Genevard, a member of parliament who will take over joint leadership of the party after the unanimous vote against Ciotti by its political committee.
"I am and will remain the president" of LR, Ciotti wrote on X after the announcement of his exclusion.
After French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday announced snap elections in the wake of his heavy defeat in the European elections, Ciotti on Tuesday said he had made an electoral deal with the RN – taking much of his own party by surprise.
Ciotti "was no longer president from the second he made this insane decision" to announce an alliance with the RN, senior lawmaker Aurélien Pradié told broadcaster France 2. "We'll remove him from the office of the heirs of General (Charles) de Gaulle if we have to," he added.
Long a "party of government" bringing presidents like Nicolas Sarkozy and Jacques Chirac to power, LR has been squeezed between Macron's centrists and the far right since 2017. Its leaders have struggled to chart an independent course, at times allying with Macron's coalition to pass key laws and at others threatening motions of no confidence.