French conservative leader Eric Ciotti is proposing a new right-wing party, including Marine Le Pen’s populist National Rally (RN), inspired by General Charles de Gaulle. Ciotti is a leader of the center-right Les Republicains (Republicans), who, unlike others in the often RINO-like party, is open to allying with Marine Le Pen and the RN, admits the Republican brand is “outdated” and “discredited by its defeats.”
The French conservative is calling for a new party, the Union of the Right for the Republic or “UDR”—a nod to the Union of Democrats for the Republic (UDR) created by General Charles de Gaulle in 1967. The original UDR of de Gaulle opposed the far-left May 1968 movement, which nearly brought France to civil war through strike action and political violence.
Anti-populist members of the Republicans (LR) have attempted to remove Ciotti from the party leadership several times over his electoral alliance with Le Pen ahead of France’s recent snap election. They have failed so far, and await a court decision on ousting him on October 14.
TWO MONTHS & NO GOVERNMENT.
The Union of the Right proposal comes amid an ongoing political crisis. Nearly two months after legislative elections produced no clear winner, a government has yet to be formed.
While Le Pen‘s National Rally won the popular vote and the most seats of any single party, it is unable to form a majority in the legislature and has been excluded from key positions by blocs aligned with President Emmanuel Macron and the far left.
The New Popular Front (NFP) alliance of far-left parties has the most seats overall, but Macron has is refusing to accept the prime ministerial candidate they are putting forward. Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of the NFP’s largest faction, France Unbowed, has proposed impeaching the French president over this refusal.
However, other members of the NFP, which the legislature’s second-placed bloc of globalist-progressive ‘Macronists’ are attempting to ally with, have distanced themselves from Melenchon’s proposal.