The split of France’s Reconquête party is now “complete”, insiders claimed in a new internal memo.
According to the document circulated within party group chats, the split between the factions supporting party leader Eric Zemmour and lead MEP Marion Maréchal is now permanent, with there reportedly being no chance of reconciliation.
The memo, written by the pro-Maréchal faction, placed the blame for the division on Zemmour, accusing his side of having sabotaged her European Parliament election campaign and of taking measures detrimental to the party.
It added that Maréchal had allegedly managed to bring most of the senior brass of the party onside, citing the fact that three of Reconquête’s four other MEPs appeared to have defected with her.
“Today, now that the election has passed and the separation is complete, this truth must be told to activists and members who are fed the false narrative disseminated by official channels and the party’s digital action groups,” the memo concluded, before asking readers to “share it” further.
Speaking to Brussels Signal, an insider close to the Maréchal camp vouched for the memo’s contents, describing the split as both permanent and a long time coming.
“It’s over between Marion and Zemmour. It was already over weeks before the end of the campaigning,” the source said.
The insider repeated the document’s claims that there had been instances of “vile internal sabotage” within the party, and that “toxicity” had made it impossible for the two factions to work together.
They added that Maréchal has had enough of the Zemmour faction’s “public strategy of radicalness and provocation”, and now wanted to move in a different direction.
“That was too much for Marion,” the source said.
“She wishes for a serious, classic conservative movement, not a populist counterproductive platform.”
EXC: Marion Maréchal is to “build her own party” after the implosion of Reconquête in the run-up to France’s snap elections. https://t.co/hgGdDDqT61
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) June 13, 2024
Pro-Zemmour activists have continued to insist that Maréchal and her colleagues were at fault for the split, with those close to the party leader claiming she decided to “betray” the group for personal gain.
“She lied by saying that [Zemmour] intended to place its candidates everywhere in France, which is false,” another anonymous insider told Brussels Signal.
That source claimed that Maréchal had brokered some sort of deal with Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN), before encouraging the public to vote for the rival group.
“Marion Maréchal negotiated places for some of her friends at the RN,” the insider said.
This was rejected by those close to the senior MEP, who claimed instead that the deal Maréchal negotiated was explicitly for Reconquête.
“Marion negotiated a second deal after the first failed partly because of Zemmour. And he threatened to exclude her for negotiating,” they said.
The source added that Maréchal had never advocated for an RN vote but a vote for the proposed “right-wing coalition”, which wanted Reconquête to be a part of.
“So yes she went back to negotiate a smaller second deal because she felt it was crucial to run as a right-wing coalition.
“By advocating unity she wants to win and oust Macron. Zemmour advocated for unity for decades and now excludes Marion for trying to secure it? Preposterous,” the insider concluded.
Neutral activists within Reconquête have expressed confusion and dismay at the fall-out.
“It’s heartbreaking,” one local campaigner said in an internal chat.
Others expressed confusion as to which way they should vote in France’s upcoming snap general elections. Some wanted to stick by the party, while others said they would vote for RN’s proposed alliance, if only to prevent a hard-left alliance from being the group that beat French President Emmanuel Macron.
VIDEO: French MEP @NicolasBay_, the sole member of the Reconquête party in the European Parliament, talks to @JustinStares about the Euro, national sovereignty, immigration, the future of Europe, and the upcoming EU elections. ⬇️ https://t.co/SMt6AdagXZ
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) April 30, 2024
