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Top French MP quits 'leftist' Green party

The Local France
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Top French MP quits 'leftist' Green party
French MP and former member of Ecological-Green Party (EELV) Francois de Rugy gives a press conference. Photo: Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP

One of the leaders of the ecologist parliamentary group, François de Rugy, has resigned from France’s Green Party, claiming that the party has moved too far to the left.

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François de Rugy, who is an MP for the western département of Loire-Atlantique and co-president of the ecologist group in France’s National Assembly, announced on Thursday that he would quit the Green Party, Europe-Ecologie-Les-Verts (EELV).

In a long interview with French daily Le Monde on Thursday, the politician criticized the Green Party’s shift to the left since it left France’s socialist government in 2014 and defended its alliance with the party.

“I am leaving Europe-Ecologie-Les-Verts because for me the EELV is finished,” de Rugy, who has been a member of EELV and its precursor Les Verts for 20 years, said.

“The cycle started by Daniel Cohn-Bendit in 2008 has come to an end. Today, we no longer have debates, whether substantive or strategic, at the heart of a party that is sinking into a leftist slump.”

The politician also published a book Ecologie ou gauchisme, il faut choisir (Ecology or leftism, you have to choose) explaining his resignation on the same day.

His resignation comes one week after Jean-Vincent Placé threatened to quit in a fury over the party’s partnership with Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s Left Front in December’s regional elections.

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