It will have less and less political weight.
The president of the UDI Jean-Christophe Lagarde, weakened by legal troubles, announced Wednesday to the members of his party that he was leaving his functions and that his successor would be elected on December 10, in a letter.
This decision is "painful for me, but necessary for all of us" because "I am not in a position to effectively preside over our political movement", explains in this letter the president of the UDI who calls into question a "judicial surge (... ) carefully prepared” against him.
"I have to admit that I can no longer express myself in public to convey our message, our ideas, our project as I have done by your side for 8 years", he adds.
Jean-Christophe Lagarde, 54, convened a National Bureau on Tuesday which approved this decision, as well as that of "convening an early Congress which will be responsible for electing a new president on December 10".
Suspicion of fictitious employment, possession of weapons, false Garrido-Corbière affair…
Defeated in the June legislative elections by Raquel Garrido (LFI) in Seine-Saint-Denis after four successive terms, Lagarde quickly stepped down from his duties at the head of the UDI, whose presidency he had delegated to Senator Hervé Marseille. , without however formally leaving his post.
By December 10, Hervé Marseille will exercise “full responsibility for our movement”, adds the former boss.
“This decision is effective as of today”, specifies the former deputy who has experienced several legal troubles in recent months.
He is notably suspected of having granted a fictitious job as a parliamentary assistant to his mother-in-law, a case for which the National Financial Prosecutor's Office requested a one-year suspended prison sentence against him, accompanied by a deprivation of civil rights of five years.
Judgment is expected on December 7.
Read alsoGarrido-Corbière affair: behind the false abused employee, behind the scenes of an incredible political plot
In addition, one of his former collaborators was indicted in early September in the investigation into the false accusations of the magazine Le Point having targeted, during the campaign, the LFI deputies Raquel Garrido and Alexis Corbière.
A case in which Le Parisien reveals, this Wednesday, the role that Jean-Christophe Lagarde may have played, who is however not indicted in this case.
In March 2021, the boss of the UDI was also placed in police custody after the discovery of several weapons at his home by the police, called for a family dispute.
“I will demand justice” from these “multiple unjust and unjustified accusations”, adds the one who has just been elected to Drancy as deputy mayor of the city, his wife Aude Lagarde.