The explosive soap opera of pension reform has finally ended with the vote at the Assembly. But the subject continues to cause divisions within the political parties, in particular The Republicans. After weeks of being challenged by Aurélien Pradié, Eric Ciotti, the leader of LR, decided to remove him from his position as number 2. Ciotti’s decision was taken after Pradié had publicly opposed the party’s official support for the government’s pension reform text. Pradié had argued for better consideration of long careers.
Ciotti’s decision to dismiss Pradié is seen by many as an attempt to impose authority and divide the LR. Pradié had been eliminated in the first round of the ballot to appoint the LR leader, after collecting just over 22% of the vote. He had already been unhappy to share his position as number 2 of the party with François-Xavier Bellamy, the first follower of Bruno Retailleau.
Eric Ciotti’s decision to fire Aurélien Pradié has caused a stir in the political world, and it remains to be seen how the situation will develop in the coming weeks.
