Renaud Muselier had already called for voting for Emmanuel Macron in the presidential election in February, after leaving Les Républicains in November 2021, accusing the party of drifting to the far right.

"I will join the Renaissance party at the beginning of December," he told AFP, adding that he would be part of the party's executive bureau.

"I had given myself time to make a decision by the end of the year on a national positioning", continued Mr. Muselier, assuring that he "does not find himself in the words of the three candidates" President of the Republicans.

In October, Renaud Muselier had denounced "a race towards the far right" of his former party and had openly criticized the candidate Eric Ciotti, arguing that he had established a "political system of pressures and threats" in the Alpes-Maritimes .

"The word traitor has a new synonym: Muselier. Dictionaries will integrate it very soon. Despicable and ridiculous ...", tweeted Mr. Ciotti on Tuesday, in reaction to Mr. Muselier's decision.

Renaud Muselier had won the presidency of the Region in June 2021 by largely beating the RN candidate Thierry Mariani, himself a former member of the Republicans.

Mr. Muselier had set two criteria for his choice of party: "no compromise with the extremes and no + presidential stable +", argued those around him.

"I would not have returned to the Walkers [les members du mouvement En Marche, NDLR] because I did not find myself there", assured Mr. Muselier, but "Renaissance is another political organization which has integrated the result well of the presidential election".

The presidential party had been renamed in May, a few days after the election and had touted its "openness" to citizens and elected officials from other parties.

On this occasion, a confederation called Together was also created, with the Modem of François Bayrou and the Horizons party of Edouard Philippe.

Within Renaissance, Renaud Muselier wishes to "confort [his] region" and "help the country to move forward" but he maintains that he does not have "national ambition".

"I feel free and I will remain free," he added.

Mr. Muselier had also launched in July a regional party called "Cap on the future - Our territories first", calling for the gathering of all "the democratic and republican arc" after legislative elections where the far right has won half of the constituencies in this region of southern France.

This party "continues to exist", assured those around him.

© 2022 AFP