A second leading member of France's Green party, EELV, quit the movement on Friday ... a rare piece of good news for President François Hollande's Socialists, who hold their annual summer school this weekend. But it won't be all peace and love there, either, with a fresh row blowing up over the 35-hour work week, reports RFI.
Following MP François de Rugy, who left the EELV on Thursday, its leader in the Senate, Jean-Vincent Placé, announced he was leaving a party he described as a "dead star", "sectarian" and "turning to the far left".
Nobody was surprised at Placé's departure, which was predicted by pundits after his criticisms of the EELV last week.
Party loyalists tried to play down the departure of members who regret its two ministers leaving the government in 2014 and want to support Hollande in the 2017 presidential election.
The defectors are angry at a decision to form alliances with Jean-Luc Mélenchon's Left Front in some areas in December's regional election, claiming that it plays into the hands of the far-right Front National.
Mélenchon himself called the departures a "clarification" by the "right wing of the Greens".
But only 12 of the 18 EELV MPs elected in 2012 are still in the party and others could leave, as the party's vote continues to decline.
That is good news for the Socialists, who meet in the western city of La Rochelle this weekend, since the government was weakened by the Green's departure and they would like their backing in the regional poll.