The Republicans (France)

The Republicans
Les Républicains
General Secretary Bernard Accoyer
Vice Presidents Laurent Wauquiez
Isabelle Le Callennec
Spokesman in the Assembly Christian Jacob
Spokesman in the Senate Bruno Retailleau
Founded 30 May 2015 (2015-05-30)
Preceded by UMP
Headquarters Rue de Vaugirard N. 238,
75015 Paris
Youth wing Les Jeunes Républicains
("The Young Republicans")
Membership (2016) 275,000 [1]
Ideology Neo-Gaullism[2][3][4]
Liberal conservatism[4][5][6]
Christian democracy[4]
Political position Centre-right
European affiliation European People's Party
International affiliation Centrist Democrat International
International Democrat Union
European Parliament group European People's Party[7]
Colours                Blue, White, Red (French Tricolore)
National Assembly
112 / 577
Senate
144 / 348
European Parliament
19 / 74
Presidency of Regional Councils
7 / 17
Presidency of Departmental Councils
44 / 101
Website
www.republicains.fr

The Republicans (French: Les Républicains; LR) is a centre-right political party in France. The party was formed on 30 May 2015 by renaming the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party, which had been founded in 2002 under the leadership of former President of France Jacques Chirac.[8][9] The party used to be one of the two major political parties in the French Fifth Republic along with the centre-left Socialist Party (PS). The Republicans are a member of the European People's Party,[10] Centrist Democrat International,[11] and International Democrat Union.[12]

History

UMP name change

After the election in November 2014 of Nicolas Sarkozy, the President of France from 2007 to 2012, as president of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), Sarkozy put forward a request to the party's general committee to change its name to "The Republicans" (Les Républicains) and alter the statutes of the party. With the name already chosen, vice-president of the UMP Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet presented Sarkozy and the party's political bureau the proposed new statutes. The proposed statutes provided for, among others, the election of the presidents of the departmental federations by direct democracy, the end of the political currents and consulting members on election nominations.[13]

Critics of Sarkozy claimed it was "illegal" for him to name the party "Republicans" because every French person is a republican if they support the values and ideals of the French Republic that emanated from the French Revolution, and as such the term is above party politics.[14] The new name was adopted by the party bureau on 5 May 2015 and approved by the party membership on 28 May by an online "yes" vote of 83.3% on a 45.7% turnout after a court ruling in favour of Sarkozy.[15] The new party statutes were adopted by 96.3% of voters and the composition of the new political bureau by 94.8%.

Founding congress

The change to the name "The Republicans" was confirmed at the party's founding congress on 30 May 2015 at the Paris Event Centre in Paris, attended by 10,000 activists.[16] Angela Merkel, chairwoman of the conservative CDU, sent a congratulatory message to the congress. The Republicans thus became the legal successor of the UMP and the leading centre-right party in France.[17]

The organisation has been declared in the préfecture de Saône-et-Loire on 9 April 2015.[18] According to the statement of this declaration, its aim is to "promote ideas of the right and centre, open to every people who wish to be member and debate in the spirit of a political party with republican ideas in France or outside France". This party foundation was published in the Journal officiel de la République française on 25 April 2015.[19]

On 3 July 2016, Nicolas Sarkozy announced that he would resign as leader that year in order to compete to be the right-wing candidate in the 2017 presidential election.[20]

On 27 November 2016 former Prime Minister of France Francois Fillon became the nominee of the party in the 2017 presidential election, after he had won its primary.

In the first round of the presidential election on 23 April 2017, Francois Fillon came in third place with 20% of the votes, and thus failed to advance to the second round. During his concession speech, he officially endorsed Emmanuel Macron for president.[21]

Leadership

President

No. Name Photo Began Left
1 Nicolas Sarkozy
30 May 2015 23 August 2016
2 Laurent Wauquiez
23 August 2016 29 November 2016
vacant since 29 November 2016

Vice President

No. Name Photo Began Left
1 Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet
30 May 2015 15 December 2015
2 Laurent Wauquiez
15 December 2015 23 August 2016
29 November 2016 Incumbent

Election results

Presidential elections

Election year Candidate 1st round 2nd round
Votes % Rank Votes % Rank
2017 François Fillon 7,212,995 20.01 3rd

Legislative elections

Election year 1st round 2nd round Seats +/− Rank
(seats)		 Government
Votes % Votes %
2017 3,573,427 15.77 4,040,203 22.23
112 / 577
 Decrease 82 2nd Opposition

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Laurent Wauquiez : « Je veux qu'à l'occasion de 2017 nous retrouvions la fierté de ce qu'est notre pays »". Les Républicains. 15 October 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  2. ↑ "L'UMP devient "Les Républicains" / France Inter". Franceinter.fr. Retrieved 2015-12-06.
  3. ↑ "«Les Républicains» : comment Sarkozy veut dépasser la logique de parti". Les Échos. France. 2015-04-17. Retrieved 2015-12-06.
  4. 1 2 3 "Sarkozy apela a las esencias republicanas para reconquistar el poder". ABC. Spain. Retrieved 2015-12-06.
  5. ↑ Politics (2015-06-02). "Hollande and Sarkozy are battling for the French Presidency — but France doesn't want either of them - Business Insider". Uk.businessinsider.com. Retrieved 2015-12-06.
  6. ↑ Noack, Rick. "The ‘Republican Party’ is coming to France". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2015-12-06.
  7. ↑ "france | EPP Group in the European Parliament". Eppgroup.eu. 2015-12-02. Retrieved 2015-12-06.
  8. ↑ Bolton, Doug (30 May 2015). "Nicolas Sarkozy changes UMP party's name to The Republicans ahead of political comeback". The Independent. Retrieved 2015-05-30.
  9. ↑ "France's UMP party changes name to The Republicans, boosting Sarkozy". Reuters Editorial. 2015-05-29. Retrieved 2015-12-06.
  10. ↑ "EPP - European People's Party - Member Parties". 50.8398374;4.3671204: European People's Party. Retrieved 2015-12-06.
  11. ↑ "Partidos Archivo". idc-cdi. 2015-11-26. Retrieved 2015-12-06.
  12. ↑ "International Democrat Union » Member Parties". Idu.org. 2015-10-27. Retrieved 2015-12-06.
  13. ↑ Béraud, Anne-Laëtitia (14 April 2015). "L’UMP se dote des statuts du nouveau parti baptisé «Les Républicains". 20 Minutes. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
  14. ↑ Chrisafis, Angelique (26 May 2015). "France: judges clear way for Sarkozy to rename UMP party Les Républicains". The Guardian. Retrieved 2015-06-01.
  15. ↑ Pauline Théveniaud (avec Olivier Beaumont), Congrès des «Républicains» : «Un jour de renaissance», pour Sarkozy Le Parisien, 30 mai 2015
  16. ↑ Alexandre Lemarié et Matthieu Goar, Sarkozy met les Républicains en ordre de bataille pour 2017 Le Monde, 30 mai 2015
  17. ↑ AFP (29 May 2015). "France's Sarkozy renames UMP party 'The Republicans'". Yahoo News. Retrieved 2015-06-01.
  18. ↑ http://www.journal-officiel.gouv.fr/publications/assoc/pdf/2015/0017/JOAFE_PDF_Unitaire_20150017_01214.pdf
  19. ↑ No d'annonce : 1214 Paru le : 25/04/2015 Association : LES REPUBLICAINS. Identification R.N.A. : W715002794 No de parution : 20150017 Département (Région) : Saône-et-Loire (Bourgogne) Lieu parution : Déclaration à la préfecture de Saône-et-Loire. Type d'annonce : ASSOCIATION/CREATION
  20. ↑ "Nicolas Sarkozy confirms return bid for French presidency". The Guardian. 3 July 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  21. ↑ {{|url=http://www.cnbc.com/amp/2017/04/23/defeated-conservative-fillon-to-choose-macron-over-le-pen.html%7Caccessdate=26 April 2017|publisher=CNBC|date=23 April 2017}}
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