The Republican Party of Florida voted this Sunday to suspend its, until now, president, Christian Ziegler. In early December, the authorities began an investigation into Ziegler´s actions, accusing him of alleged sexual assault, and that caused important members of the GOP, such as the state governor, Ron DeSantis, to call for his immediate resignation.
However, he refused to resign, ensuring that he was not guilty of the crime for which he was being investigated. That forced the Florida Republican Party to file a no-confidence motion initiated by Michael Thompson, the chairman of the Lee County GOP Executive Committee.
Motion to suspend Zieglers authority passes pic.twitter.com/pkLxchf4Rn
— Michael Thompson 🇺🇸 (@Michael4FL) December 17, 2023
The motion of censure included a curious clause also announced by Thompson whereby Ziegler's salary would go from $120,000 a year to just $1. The intention of this suspension, the document reads, is to remove Ziegler from his powers and, especially, from his position as president, since he "has engaged in conduct that renders him unfit for the office."
The Republican Party of Florida, after the resignation of Christian Ziegler
After the suspension was approved, most of Christian Ziegler's duties were assumed by Florida Republican Party Vice Chairman, Evan Power. He assured, in statements reported by NBC News, that suspending Ziegler was the right thing to do, while asking the politician to resign immediately so as not to continue damaging the reputation of the party:
Today the Republican Party of Florida took a step to hold our chairman accountable for his action. We will follow through in removing him from power, but I implore Chairman Ziegler to do the right thing and resign.
Otherwise, the Florida GOP will take action. As Power explained in statements reported by the New York Times, if Ziegler has not submitted his voluntary resignation by January 8, an emergency meeting would be held in Tallahassee to formalize his dismissal and elect a new president for the state party.
