Democratic Movement (France)

Democratic Movement
Mouvement démocrate
Abbreviation MoDem
Leader François Bayrou
Founded 1 December 2007
Preceded by Union for French Democracy
Headquarters 133 bis rue de l'Université
75007 Paris
Membership (2017) 14,000[1]
Ideology Centrism[2]
Liberalism[3]
Social liberalism[2]
Political position Centre[2] to Centre-right[4][5]
European affiliation European Democratic Party
International affiliation None
European Parliament group Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
Colours Orange
National Assembly
42 / 577
Senate
6 / 348
European Parliament
4 / 74
Presidency of Regional Councils
0 / 17
Presidency of Departmental Councils
1 / 101
Website
mouvementdemocrate.fr

The Democratic Movement (French: Mouvement démocrate French pronunciation: ​[muv.mɑ̃ de.mɔ.kʁat]; MoDem French: [mɔ.dɛm]) is a centrist[6][7] political party in France, which is characterised by a strong pro-European stance. MoDem was founded by François Bayrou to succeed the Union for French Democracy (UDF) and contest the 2007 legislative election, after his strong showing in the 2007 presidential election.[8] Initially named the Democratic Party (Parti démocrate), the party was renamed "Democratic Movement",[9] because there was already a small Democratic Party in France.[10] MoDem secured an agreement with En Marche! in the 2017 legislative election after Bayrou endorsed the candidacy of Emmanuel Macron in February. In June 2017, the MoDem and its MEPs were accused of potentially fictitious employment practices within the European Parliament [11]. MoDem leader Francois Bayrou resigned on the 21st of June from his post as Justice Minister soon after he became embroiled in the fictitious employment scandals, as well as this he faced allegations of harassment against a journalist reporting on the scandal.

History

Background

The MoDem traces its roots in the Union for French Democracy (UDF), centrist coalition/party active from 1978 to 2007.

Traditionally, the UDF had always supported centre-right governments since its creation by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. The UDF aligned itself with the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) following its creation in 2002, and even took part in the government coalition in the Senate from 2002 to 2007, though it did not participate in the Cabinet (except for Gilles de Robien). However, during the second term of Jacques Chirac, the UDF became increasingly independent from the UMP. On the initiative of its leader François Bayrou, it eventually supported a censure motion along with the Socialist Party (PS).

2007 presidential election

During the 2007 presidential campaign, François Bayrou advocated a national unity government. He presented himself as a centrist and a social-liberal,[12] proclaiming that if elected, he would "govern beyond the left-right divide".[13] Although eliminated in the first round, a high number of voters (over 18%) supported him, partly because of his independence from major parties. Following the election, he founded the Democratic Movement (MoDem) on the 29 May to reinforce his strategy of political independence. MoDem was also supported by the Union of Radical Republicans.

Some members of the UDF did not agree with this new strategy because the weighted French balloting system would hinder the Democratic Movement from obtaining seats in the legislative elections. These members created the New Centre, continuing their support for the newly elected president Nicolas Sarkozy.

2007 legislative election

The MoDem won 7.6% of the votes in the first round of the June 2007 legislative election.

Candidates ran under the UDF-MoDem banner, since the party had not yet been created officially. The party gained three seats in the National Assembly of France (not including Abdoulatifou Aly who was elected in Mayotte for a party affiliated to the MoDem. He sat with the New Centre for a short while but he is now sitting with the MoDem deputies[14]). Thierry Benoit, one of the four MPs, has been vocally critical of the party,[15] but he actually sits for the MoDem and defends the movement's policies. He stated that he had been elected jointly by centre-right and left-wing citizens.[16]

Official foundation

The MoDem became an official political party on 1 December 2007 following its founding assembly in Villepinte, Seine-Saint-Denis, in the suburbs of Paris. The assembly elected Bayrou, who ran uncontested, as the party president, and also elected 29 others to the provisional executive board. On 30 November 2007, the UDF effectively ceased to exist, and was fully integrated within MoDem.[17]

2012 presidential and legislative elections

At the 2012 presidential election Bayrou won 9.3% of the vote, a half of what he had obtained five years before. In the subsequent legislative election the party was reduced to 1.8% and won only two seats while Bayrou lost his seat in the National Assembly, which he had held for most of his political career.

2014 municipal elections

In the city counting more than 10,000 inhabitants, the party scored an average of 15%, winning over 50 cities.[18] François Bayrou conquered the city of Pau, while the party continues to run cities like Biarritz, Saint-Brieuc, Mont-de-Marsan or Talence, and is part of the ruling coalition in Bordeaux, Dijon, Saint-Étienne, Auxerre, among others.

2014 European elections

In an alliance with the Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI), also a successor of the Union for French Democracy, MoDem obtained 9.93% of the national level vote in France.

Ideology

During the 2007 presidential election, François Bayrou stressed three points: the public debt, the need for change and ouverture to the right/left political system and the need of constitutional reforms in that direction.

International and European affiliations

In 2004, François Bayrou launched the European Democratic Party (EDP) along with Francesco Rutelli's Democracy is Freedom – The Daisy. In 2005 the EDP created, along with the New Democrat Coalition of the United States Democratic Party, the Alliance of Democrats, a worldwide network of centrist and social liberal parties.

Elected officials

François Bayrou

Former elected officials

Electoral results

Presidential elections

This table includes the 2002 and 2007 elections in which MoDem founder François Bayrou presented himself as a candidate of the Union for French Democracy (UDF).

Election year Candidate 1st round 2nd round
Votes % Rank Votes % Rank
2002 François Bayrou 1,949,170 6.84 4th
2007 François Bayrou 6,820,119 18.57 3rd
2012 François Bayrou 3,275,122 9.13 5th
2017 supported Emmanuel Macron (En Marche!)

Legislative elections

Election year 1st round 2nd round Seats +/− Rank
(seats)		 Government
Votes % Votes %
2007 1,981,107 7.61 100,115 0.49
3 / 577
 Decrease 24 9th Opposition
2012 458,098 1.77 113,196 0.49
2 / 577
 Decrease 1 10th Opposition
2017 932,227 4.12 1,100,656 6.06
42 / 577
 Increase 40 3rd Presidential majority (under REM)

European elections

The 2014 elections involved an alliance with the forces of the Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI); this joint list, The Alternative (L'Alternative), saw 4 MoDem MEPs out of 7 elected from the list.

Election year Votes % Rank Seats +/− Group
2009 1,455,841 8.46 4th
6 / 72
 Decrease 5 ALDE
2014 1,884,565 9.94 4th
7 / 74
 Increase 1 ALDE

References

  1. ↑ Thibaud Le Meneec (21 February 2017). "Militants, élus, argent : au fait, où en est le MoDem ?". Europe 1. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 Wolfram Nordsieck. "Parties and Elections in Europe: The database about parliamentary elections and political parties in Europe". parties-and-elections.eu. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  3. ↑ Nicolò Conti (4 December 2013). Party Attitudes Towards the EU in the Member States: Parties for Europe, Parties Against Europe. Routledge. p. 25. ISBN 978-1-317-93656-5.
  4. ↑ Structural crisis and institutional change in modern capitalism. p.234. Bruno Amable. Published by Oxford University press in Oxford, UK. First published in 2017. Retrieved 18 June 2017 via Google Books.
  5. ↑ French PM rebukes minister Bayrou for complaining to broadcaster. Reuters. Published 13 June 2017. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  6. ↑ Carmen Valero-Garcés (28 November 2011). Dimensions of Humor: Explorations in Linguistics, Literature, Cultural Studies and Translation. Universitat de València. p. 85. ISBN 978-84-370-8290-5.
  7. ↑ http://www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_140581_en.pdf
  8. ↑ "'Kingmaker' snubs French rivals". BBC News. 25 April 2007. Retrieved 6 May 2007.
  9. ↑ "François Bayrou baptisera son parti "Mouvement démocrate"". Le Monde (in French). France. 5 May 2007. Retrieved 6 May 2007.
  10. ↑ "Le futur "Parti démocrate" de Bayrou existe déjà". Libération (in French). France. 27 April 2007. Retrieved 6 May 2007.
  11. ↑ "Top Macron ally Bayrou quits French government". BBC News. 2017-06-21. Retrieved 2017-07-22.
  12. ↑ The third man, The Economist, 1 March 2007.
  13. ↑ Jacques Chirac's poisoned legacy, The Economist, 16 March 2007, p. 17.
  14. ↑ "Assemblée Nationale".
  15. ↑ He indicated that he was elected as a UDF representative, rather than as a MoDem.
  16. ↑ "Pourquoi les députés du MoDem n'ont-ils pas voté la confiance au gouvernement?". La Croix. 5 July 2007. Archived from the original on 24 August 2007. Je n'oublie pas que j'ai été élu par des électeurs de droite et par des électeurs de gauche. En m'abstenant, je ne heurte pas ceux de droite et j'envoie un signe à ceux de gauche
  17. ↑ M. Bayrou enterre l'UDF et célèbre la naissance du MoDem, Le Monde, 1 December 2007
  18. ↑ Municipales: le MoDem a fait 15% au 1er tour, Le Figaro, 27 March 2014.
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