Eric Ciotti announces his departure from the Republican Party and his presidency

“I am leaving a compromised team, but I am not breaking with my personal history, that of the Gaullist activist that I have always been and that I remain.” Eric Ciotti, who set the Republicans (LR) alight by proposing an alliance with the RN during the legislative elections, announced on Sunday September 22 that he was leaving the right-wing party, in an interview with Figaro. “I still had some hope that Michel Barnier would be able to impose his mark, but the configuration of the government shows that this will not be the case,” explains the elected representative of Nice.

Enough to end a legal battle with LR. The Paris judicial court had declared inadmissible in summary proceedings, on Thursday June 27, the party’s third attempt to exclude its president. A fourth hearing was scheduled for October 14.

“My decision to leave LR will allow us to rebuild a large political family with clarity and independence,” believes the deputy of the Alpes-Maritimes. At the end of August, he launched his own party called the Union of the Right for the Republic (UDR). Assuring that he had informed both Laurent Wauquiez and Marine Le Pen of his decision, Eric Ciotti launched a new appeal to LR elected officials to join him in order to consolidate what he presents as an Italian-style union of the right, which would go from the centre-right to the extreme right.

His decision comes the day after LR Prime Minister Michel Barnier announced the composition of his government, which includes several members of his former party, such as Senator Bruno Retailleau, who was appointed to the Interior. This departure also paves the way for the appointment of the new president of the Republicans.