Antoine Waechter - Split From The Greens, Creation of MEI

Split From The Greens, Creation of MEI

During the 1993 general meeting of the Greens in Lille, Dominique Voynet, who was the spokesperson of opposition, defeated Waechter for the leadership of the Greens. In Lille and under the leadership of Voyent, the Greens decided to negotiate electoral alliances during the first round of the presidential election exclusively with the Left. It marked the end for the theory of Ni Ni, which argued that the Greens could align themselves with one side or the other depending on the offers made. This change of strategy, and the ensuing tensions within the movement, led to the departure of Waechter from the Greens. He then founded the Independent Ecological Movement (Mouvement Ecologiste Indépendant - MEI) in 1994, which hoped to replace the Greens as the major Green party. However, due to the Green's electoral deals with larger parties, MEI failed to garner more than a few hundred supporters. MEI claimed to be purely ecologist, and neither on the left or right. The next year, Waechter failed to win enough endorsements to be a candidate in the 1995 French presidential election.

After leaving the Greens, Waechter practically disappeared from the French political scene for years. He attempted to be a candidate in every presidential election since 1995, but never obtained the required signatures of elected officials. (The MEI eventually chose author and TV reporter Nicolas Hulot as its candidate in 2007, however Hulot withdrew after five of the 12 candidates in the French Presidential election signed the "Pacte Ecologique", affirming that ecological problems would be the key in all the future decisions concerning every political subject.) By virtue of the sheer number of Green supporters and elected representatives, the Greens have maintained the political visibility MEI has never been able to obtain. During Waechter’s participation in the Green’s journées d'été in August 2003, the French press openly wondered whether he would rejoin the movement he had left nine years earlier. Later, in 2005, Waechter came out in favor of a yes vote on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe referendum, whereas the majority of MEI voted no in an internal referendum. He replaced his opponents in the National Council, which brought a slew of departures of members and officials, some of whom rejoined the Greens and attended public meetings organized by the right.

Nevertheless, Waechter remained politically visible in the Alsace region, where the MEI list he led in the 2004 regional elections passed the 5% threshold. This showing by MEI was made possible because no list was put forward by the Greens, who had integrated themselves with the Socialist Party list. As for the European elections of 2009, after negotiations with Europe Écologie did not offer Waechter the head of its list in the Centre region, he joined the Independent Ecological Alliance (Alliance écologiste indépendante - AEI), under the movement La France en Action. In the end, AEI earned 3.63% of the votes cast nationally, while Europe Écologie won 16.28%. In November 2009, Waechter announced that MEI would rejoin Europe Écologie in Alsace for the 2010 regional elections. Second on the list in the Haut-Rhin area behind spokeswoman of the Greens Djamila Sonzogni, Waechter was elected in the second round after agreeing to a merger with Socialist Party list.