The Republican Party (Parti républicain, PR) was a French right-wing political party founded in 1977. It replaced the National Federation of the Independent Republicans that was founded in 1966.[1] It was created by former President of France Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. It was known to be conservative in domestic, social and economic policies, pro-Nato, and pro-European.[2]
In 1978, the Republican Party allied with centrist groups to form the Union for French Democracy (Union pour la démocratie française, UDF), a confederation created in order to support President Giscard d'Estaing and counterbalance the influence of the Rally for the Republic over the right. However, after Giscard d'Estaing's defeat at the 1981 presidential election, the PR gravitated away from its founder and a new generation of politicians, led by François Léotard, took the lead.
This group called la bande à Léo ("Léo(tard)'s band"), advocated an alliance with the Neo-Gaullist Rally for the Republic (RPR) and covertly supported Jacques Chirac's candidacy at the 1988, against the official UDF candidate Raymond Barre.
During the 1995 presidential campaign, the PR divided again between the two main right-wing candidates: François Léotard and Gérard Longuet supported Edouard Balladur while Alain Madelin and Jean-Pierre Raffarin supported Jacques Chirac, who won.
Until the split of the UDF confederation in 1998, the Republican Party was its liberal component, advocating economic liberalism. In 1997, it was replaced by Liberal Democracy (Démocratie libérale, DL), led by Alain Madelin.
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