National Centre of Independents and Peasants
| National Centre of Independents and Peasants Centre national des indépendants et paysans |
|
|---|---|
| Leader | Gilles Bourdouleix |
| Founded | January 6, 1949 |
| Headquarters | 6, rue Quentin Bauchart 75008 Paris |
| Ideology | Social conservatism Liberal conservatism National conservatism Historical: Classical liberalism |
| International affiliation | none |
| European affiliation | none |
| Official colours | Blue, Red |
| Seats in the National Assembly |  |
| Seats in the Senate |  |
| Seats in the European Parliament |  |
| Seats in Regional Councils |  |
| Website | |
| www.cni.asso.fr | |
| Politics of France Political parties Elections Constitution of France Parliament; Government; President |
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The National Centre of Independents and Peasants (Centre National des Indépendants et Paysans, CNI) is a liberal-conservative and conservative-liberal political party in France, founded in 1949 by the merger of the National Centre of Independents (the heir of the French Republican conservative-liberal tradition, many party members came from the Democratic Republican Alliance) with the Peasant Party and the Republican Party of Liberty.
The CNI and its predecessors were classical liberal and economically liberal parties opposed to the dirigisme of the left, centre and Gaullist right.
Contents |
History
It participated in the Third Force coalition, and took a major role in government at the beginning of the 1950s. Antoine Pinay, its most popular figure, was Prime Minister in 1952, followed by Joseph Laniel from 1953-1954. It elected René Coty as President of France in 1953. It declined after the Dien Bien Phu military disaster in Indochina in 1954.
In 1958, it supported Charles de Gaulle's comeback and approved the constitution of the Fifth Republic. Between 1958 and 1962 the CNIP was the second largest political party and Antoine Pinay was Minister of the Economy until 1960. However, the party criticized the euroscepticism of De Gaulle and the "presidentialisation" of the regime. In 1962, it returned in opposition but the CNIP ministers, such Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, refused to leave the cabinet. They founded the Independent Republicans, along with 24 deputies. The RI remained in the presidential majority.
The party was defeated in the 1962 legislative election after 109 of its deputies voted against Georges Pompidou's government in a confidence vote on October 5, 1962. It participated, in vain, in the referendum campaign against the election of the President universal suffrage.
In 1965, it merged with the Christian-democratic Popular Republican Movement to form the Democratic Centre. It became independent again after 1968, but it is a marginal conservative group (sometimes with far right tendencies, having gained members from the Parti des forces nouvelles), and was an associate party of the Union for a Popular Movement until June 2008. It has two seats in the French National Assembly, both in the UMP group. François Lebel, mayor of the 8th arrondissement of Paris joined the party in April 2008.
In the 2009 European Parliament election, the party ran autonomous lists in three constituencies. However, the party was only able to print ballots in Guyane (2.65%) and Île-de-France (0.42%).
Popular support and electoral record
Legislative
| Election year | # of 1st round votes | % of 1st round vote | # of seats |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | 2,563,782 | 13.64% | 96 |
| 1956 | 3,259,782 | 14.99% | 95 |
| 1958 | 2,815,176 | 13.70% | 132 |
| 1962 | 1,404,177 | 7.66% | 28 |
| 1978 | classified as RPR or UDF | 8[1] | |
| 1981 | classified as RPR or UDF | 5[2] | |
| 1986 | participated in FN and RPR-UDF lists | 5[3] | |
| 1988 | classified as RPR | 5 | |
| 1993 | 122,194[4] | 0.5% | 2 |
| 1997 | 132,814[5] | 0.52% | 0 |
| 2002 | 14,403[6] | 0.06% | 2 |
| 2007 | classified as UMP | 2 | |
European Parliament
| Election year | Number of votes | % of overall vote | # of seats won |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | ran on UDF-RPR list | 2 | |
| 1989 | ran on UDF-RPR list | 2 | |
| 1994 | ran on UDF-RPR list | 0 | |
| 2009 | 8,656 | 0.05% | 0 |
Presidents
- 1973 - 1975 : François Schleiter
- 1975 - 1979 : Bertrand Motte
- 1979 - 1980 : collegial leadership (Jacques Fouchier, Maurice Ligot, Raymond Bourgine)
- 1980 - 1987 : Philippe Malaud
- 1987 - 1989 : Jacques Féron
- 1989 - 1992 : Yvon Briant
- 1992 - 1996 : Jean-Antoine Giansily
- 1996 - 1998 : Olivier d'Ormesson
- 1998 - 1999 : Jean Perrin
- 1999 - 2000 : Gérard Bourgoin
- 2000 - 2009 : Annick du Roscoät
- since 2009 : Gilles Bourdouleix
Elected officials
- Deputies: Gilles Bourdouleix (Maine-et-Loire), Christian Vanneste (Nord)
- Senators: Philippe Dominati (Paris)
References
- ^ 4 members in the UDF group, 2 in the RPR group, 2 non-affiliated
- ^ 3 members in the UDF group, 2 in the RPR group
- ^ 3 members in the FN group, 2 in the RPR group
- ^ "1993". France-politique.fr. http://www.france-politique.fr/elections-legislatives-1993.htm.
- ^ "1997". France-politique.fr. http://www.france-politique.fr/elections-legislatives-1997.htm.
- ^ "2002". France-politique.fr. http://www.france-politique.fr/elections-legislatives-2002.htm.