The two co-leaders of the French-speaking green party Ecolo are resigning, one of them, Marie Lecocq, announced on RTBF on Wednesday.
The two have only been at the helm of the party since last year, but they disagree on the path Ecolo should take.
"We are collectively returning our mandate. It is now up to the activists to decide how to proceed," Lecocq said, speaking for herself and Samuel Cogolati. The party's internal parliament will meet on Friday.
Tensions have risen within the party's leadership in recent weeks; a mediator has even been appointed to try to patch up the differences between the co-leaders.
"This situation is causing enormous damage to the party and has gone on long enough," Lecocq said on Wednesday. According to her, it was Cogolati who proposed resigning on Monday.
"I regret it. But we made this commitment together. I now announce that I will hand over my resignation to the activists. It is normal that we now turn to them," she said. "We are collectively returning our mandate."
Responsibility for this failure is "obviously shared," said Lecocq. But she regrets it. "We still had important things to do."
