France’s Green party has disowned leader Emmanuelle Cosse after she accepted the position of housing minister in Thursday’s cabinet reshuffle, reports FRANCE 24.
The nomination of Cosse to a senior cabinet post is controversial within her own party, which refused to join Hollande’s Socialist government in 2012, citing differences of opinion with his hard-talking Prime Minister Manuel Valls.
Two party spokeswomen said in a statement on Friday that the party disapproved of her joining the government, which meant that she was de-facto no longer in position, therefore leaving the Green party in disarray.
“Losing our leader is something unheard of in our history. We are going to have to rebuild”, spokeswoman Sandrine Rousseau told FRANCE 24.
Yannick Jadot, who is MEP for the French Greens, accused Hollande of undermining the party with Cosse’s nomination.
''If François Hollande's aim is to try and damage the Green Party more than it is already, it’s outrageous,” he said. “It just shows that our institutions are outdated.”