The leader of France’s Republicans party has said he would be open to an alliance with Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally in snap French elections. Such an alliance would break a decades-old taboo.

Eric Ciotti, the head of the conservative French political party Les Republicans (LR), astounded political observers Tuesday by suggesting it was time to drop the longstanding taboo against working with the country’s far-right National Rally (NR) party in hopes of taking power in snap elections called by centrist President Emmanuel Macron in the wake of Sunday’s European parliamentary elections.

Speaking on TF1 TV, Ciotti said: “We say the same things, so let’s stop making up imagined opposition. This is what the vast majority of our voters want. They’re telling us, 'reach a deal.”

In response, several of Ciotti’s fellow party members spoke out against allowing former NR President Marine Le Pen anywhere near the levers of power.