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 Voynet, 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.