On Wednesday, Éric Ciotti was dismissed as party leader of the French Republicans by a unanimous party board. On Thursday morning, he defiantly went to work anyway.
I am the party chairman. I am on my way to my office and that's that, he told a gathered press corps outside the party headquarters in Paris.
Ciotti announced immediately after the party board's decision that he does not recognise their decision as valid. According to him, it breaches party statutes and he has warned that it may also have legal consequences. He claims he is the leader elected by the members.
The 58-year-old Ciotti belongs to a right-wing faction within the Republicans and was elected party leader after the 2022 presidential election, following a prolonged period of decline.
After the European Championship election, and yet another poor result, Éric Ciotti made a historic announcement in French politics when he opened up for cooperation with the far-right party National Rally in the upcoming parliamentary election. This sparked great anger within the Republicans and prompted the party board to take action to dismiss the leader.
Before the meeting where Ciotti was dismissed, he had chosen to lock the doors to the party headquarters on Wednesday to opponents within the party. Ciotti justified the decision by saying that "threats had been received" and that he had to "protect the staff".
If we must, we will carry him out of this office that belongs to the descendants of (former President) Charles de Gaulle, said MP and party heavyweight Aurélien Pradié to public service broadcaster France 2 at the time.
