Paris
CNN
—
Alliances were brokered or broken, leaders were hurled out of windows or besieged, cries of “betrayal” and “disgrace” rang across the airwaves in a Shakespearean fashion.
This has been the most violent week for the French right in decades.
The story began on Sunday night, when the far-right won a stunning victory in France in the European Parliament elections, winning about 40% of the vote. French President Emmanuel Macron immediately upended national politics and announced early parliamentary elections.
“I just don’t want to hand power to the far right in 2027,” Trump said this week, justifying his big bet on a surprise vote.
After topping European opinion polls, there is growing speculation that the Rally National party of far-right stalwart Marine Le Pen and her younger ally Jordan Bardella could oust Macron’s own centrist forces and become at least the kingmaker of the next government, or even lead it.
Although Macron remains president until 2027, he faces the prospect of a government led by far-right ministers – not a soothing prospect for him.
But the success of the far right has upset the balance of French right-wing politics, with almost comical results.
Within days, one right-wing leader had barricaded himself in his headquarters, another had been abandoned by all but one of the newly elected members of parliament, and a fierce battle was unfolding to win the support of the far right.
Julian De Rosa/AFP/Getty Images
Marine Le Pen addressed supporters alongside National Rally leader Jordan Bardella at an event on Sunday following the European elections.
Fast forward to Tuesday, when Eric Ciotti, leader of France’s Republican Party, long the leading right-wing party in the country, announced a surprise coalition government with Le Pen’s far-right party.
His stated views were cautious. “This country has never been more right-wing,” he said. “This country expects right-wing action.”
His colleagues’ reaction was not at all the same.
“He sells his soul for a plate of lentils and pretends it’s in the best interests of the country,” his Republican colleague Valérie Pécresse put it.
Online, he was met with chants of “shame” from past and present Republican colleagues.
After decades of being part of the traditional mainstream that prided itself on protecting French power from the far-right through strategic alliances, the so-called “line of defense,” Ciotti’s Republicans found themselves on the fringes, winning just over 7 percent of the vote.
Amid the rise of the far right, Mr Ciotti has found a way to be relevant.
His party opposed it.
Amid outrage over what the French president called a “deal with the devil,” party leaders called for him to be excommunicated from the party.
His rebellion, in which he locked himself in his party headquarters and tried to sabotage the party, will go down in French political history.
Stephane de Sactin/AFP/Getty Images
Eric Ciotti addressed the media on Thursday as he left his party’s headquarters in Paris.
It was the start of a procession of party leaders marching to oust him, most notably by the president of the Paris region’s local parliament, who theatrically rolled up his sleeves amid a throng of journalists to press Ciotti’s defiance.
Meanwhile, French-speaking social media was abuzz with memes depicting police SWAT teams and hostage negotiators removing Ciotti.
In reality, that wasn’t the case: his colleagues found a spare key and opened the door.
By Wednesday evening, Mr Ciotti had been expelled from the party, whose secretary-general echoed Mr Macron’s own attacks by blasting the party’s “immoral alliance” with the far right.
However, the party’s now alleged former leader hit back hard, issuing a statement in the name of the party condemning the caucus as illegal and having “no legal basis.”
“I am and will remain the representative of our political organisation, elected by its members,” he posted on X (formerly Twitter).
On Thursday morning, Trump tweeted a video of himself sitting at his desk, set to a dramatic Hollywood soundtrack, in a public refusal to accept being expelled from the party.
The coup attempt took place on the 21stst Pride of the century: The coup plotters apparently took control of the party’s X account, and Ciotti’s supporters took control of the party’s Facebook account, which posted contradictory statements about the party’s leadership.
On Friday, a French court ruled that Ciotti’s firing was unlawful, exonerating him.
“Justice has spoken,” he said after the verdict. “She said you can’t do whatever you like, you can’t DIY.”
Further to the right of France’s political spectrum, unrest has also become commonplace and is often broadcast on national television screens.
The Reconquista party, led by Le Pen’s niece and vice president Marion Maréchal and former TV commentator Eric Zemmour, rode the momentum of the National Rally to win around 5% of the vote in France’s European elections. The party was only founded in 2021.
Like Mr Ciotti, who is eager to ride the wave of far-right popularity to power, Mr Maréchal has been working since Sunday to forge a formal partnership with his aunt’s party.
Prime Minister Zemmour seemed opposed, and the shock was clear on his face when Maréchal announced the initiative on national television on Sunday night.
Apparently frustrated by his opposition, she resorted to an act of rebellion, calling on Reconquista supporters to vote for her far-right rival.
“Let’s put the interests of France above the interests of our party,” she said on live television.
Zemmour was furious. Later that day, in a television interview with BFMTV, he slammed her as a liar. “She has broken the world record for betrayal,” he said.
Ian Langsdon/AFP/Getty Images
Marion Maréchal addressed supporters of her Reconquista party on Sunday alongside party leader Eric Zemmour (left). Maréchal and Zemmour have since had a falling out.
Zemmour then declared he was expelling Maréchal and the three newly elected MEPs who supported her from the party, and severed his ties with his own party, leaving him with just one MEP and a lonely outcast on the far right.
“It pains me to have to comment on these infightings at a time when our country is dying, when hope is finally being reborn,” he lamented on X.
In a statement on X (formerly Twitter), he denied Marechal’s accusation that he had broken his contract with the National Rally.
As a result of this confusion, Wednesday ended with one party declaring an alliance and then breaking away from its leader, while the leader of another party did not do the same, leaving the EU with just one MEP.
With less than two weeks to go until parliamentary elections scheduled for June 30, it is unclear to what extent the right-wing infighting will affect the outcome of the national elections.
Certainly, this works to the advantage of Le Pen and Bardella’s National Rally, an invincible electoral force on the right that has so far managed to stay out of the fray.
Ciotti’s support, even if rejected by other members of traditionalist parties, shows how far the National Coalition has advanced into mainstream politics.
On the surface, the Rally National has completed its transformation from an extremist party into a vote-relevant party, at least for a significant portion of the French electorate.
With France’s right wing in disarray, this may be Le Pen’s party’s sweetest victory yet.
journalist Julen Chavin contributed to this report
