French conservatives on Wednesday announced the removal of their leader, Eric Ciotti, for attempting to form an electoral coalition with the far-right National Rally (RN), while he asserted he remained in office.

The Republicans' political committee agreed unanimously to remove Ciotti, according to MP Annie Genevard, who added that the party "will present candidates to the French public with clarity and independence" in snap polls scheduled by President Emmanuel Macron for June 30 and July 7.

"I am and remain the president" of the party, Ciotti countered in a post on X, calling the committee's action "a flagrant violation of our statutes" and hence unlawful and invalid.

La réunion organisée cet après-midi a été mise en œuvre en violation flagrante de nos statuts @lesRepublicains.

Aucune des décisions prises à cette réunion n’emporte de conséquence légale.

Elle peut avoir des conséquences pénales.

Je suis et reste le président de notre… pic.twitter.com/8cSoosTdK3

— Eric Ciotti (@ECiotti) June 12, 2024

On Tuesday, Ciotti disclosed his pact with the RN on television, sparking a major mutiny among Conservative leaders.

He locked the party headquarters near the National Assembly lower chamber for the day after the political committee scheduled an emergency meeting, claiming that there had "never been any meeting planned at the HQ this afternoon."

Senior legislator Aurelien Pradie told France 2 broadcaster that Ciotti "was no longer president from the second he made this insane decision" to declare an agreement with the RN

The Republicans, once a "party of government" that brought presidents such as Nicolas Sarkozy and Jacques Chirac to office, have been squeezed between President Emmanuel Macron's centrists and the extreme right since 2017.

Leaders have battled to forge their way, at times siding with Macron's minority administration to enact critical legislation and at others threatening censure moves.

After Macron called emergency elections on Sunday in response to his European vote defeat, Ciotti stated on Tuesday that he had reached an electoral agreement with the RN, surprising many members of his party.

Laurent Wauquiez, the Republican president of the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region stated, "In politics, the answer isn't coalition deals, little pacts made behind closed doors to secure constituencies." 

"We try to convince people, we may fail to convince people. But we do it clearly and with a spine," Wauquiez added.

Macron calls for anti-far right coalition ahead of French elections

French President Emmanuel Macron announced his intention to form a coalition against far-right parties in France's upcoming snap elections, with the goal of preventing the far right from assuming power after he steps down in 2027.

Macron made these remarks during a rare domestic press conference held three days after his ruling party suffered a significant setback in the European elections, prompting him to call for early elections.

A significant shift in French political dynamics seems to be underway, marked by the leader of the primary right-wing party endorsing an alliance with the far right, leading to internal conflict within his own party.

Given the slim prospects of surpassing the far-right National Rally (RN) in the upcoming two-round election scheduled for June 30 and July 7, Macron's optimal strategy appears to involve constructing a wide-ranging centrist coalition that appeals to both moderate left and right factions.

"I hope that when the time comes, men and women of goodwill who will have been able to say no to the extremes will come together... will put themselves in a position to build a shared, sincere project that is useful to the country," Macron told journalists. 

"The answer, in my eyes, could not come through changing the government or a coalition... dissolving parliament was necessary," Macron said.