Républicains indépendants

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Républicains indépendants (RI; "Independent Republicans") was the abbreviation for a liberal - conservative party in France, which existed under various official names from 1962 to 1997. Initially it was called Comité d'études et de liaison des Républicains indépendants , in 1966 it took the name Fédération nationale des républicains et indépendants (FNRI), in 1977 it became the Parti républicain (PR). From this, the Démocratie Libérale (DL) emerged in 1997 . The most important leader of the Républicains indépendants was Valéry Giscard d'Estaing , who was French President from 1974 to 1981. The Independent Republicans campaigned for free-market reforms, free trade, careful liberalization of society and a united Europe .

history

founding

The Républicains indépendants split off from the Center national des indépendants et paysans (CNIP) in 1962 . The majority of the CNIP MPs had overthrown the government of Georges Pompidou by a vote of no confidence in the dispute over a constitutional reform . Some of the CNIP MPs - including Raymond Marcellin , Jean de Broglie and Valéry Giscard d'Estaing - supported the constitutional reform (which included a direct election of the president) and expressed their confidence in the Pompidou government. They then left the CNIP and formed the Républicains indépendants. This group was originally conceived only as a loose association of independent MPs and not as a party in the actual sense. In the referendum in October 1962, the Républicains indépendants were the only non-Gaullist bourgeois group in favor of the direct election of the president.

Coalition partner of the Gaullists under de Gaulle and Pompidou

In the early parliamentary elections, the Républicains indépendants ran in alliance with the Gaullists ( UNR - UDT ), who did not put up their own candidates in selected constituencies but supported an independent republican. As a result, the RI moved into the National Assembly with 18 members, even though they only got 2.3% of the vote nationwide. After the election, some non-party MPs who ran under the label Divers droite (“other rights”) joined the RI parliamentary group, which grew to 35 members. The independent republicans were represented by several ministers and state secretaries in the Pompidou II and III cabinets (1962–67): Giscard d'Estaing was finance and economics minister, Raymond Marcellin first health minister, then industry minister and Jean de Broglie undersecretary for Algeria.

The Républicains indépendants, which had initially only existed as a parliamentary group, founded an extra-parliamentary party organization in 1966 under the name Fédération nationale des républicains et indépendants ("National Alliance of Republicans and Independents"). This was in response to Giscard's dismissal as Treasury Secretary. In the parliamentary elections the following year, the independent Republicans ran again as part of the center-right alliance Union des républicains de progrès , which was dominated by the Gaullist UDR and supported the presidency of Charles de Gaulle . At the same time, the FNRI expressed increasing criticism and cautiously distanced itself from the Gaullist government majority, which can be summarized as the strategy of “oui, mais ...” (“Yes, but ...”).

They were able to increase their share of the vote to 5.5% and their number of seats to 42 (again thanks to agreements with the Gaullists). In the Pompidou IV cabinet , however, they were only represented by a minister ( Jean Chamant for transport) and a state secretary (Marcellin). The independent Republicans - as well as the conservative presidential camp as a whole - benefited significantly from the early elections as a result of the student unrest in May 1968 . Your group grew to 61 MPs, making it the second largest in the National Assembly, ahead of the Socialists . In the Couve de Murville government , they were able to fill several important ministries again: Raymond Marcellin as Minister of the Interior, André Bettencourt as Minister of Industry and Jean Chamant as Minister of Transport. In the referendum on a reform of the Senate (essentially the rights of the second chamber were to be curtailed), the FNRI did not give its supporters any election recommendations, which in turn can be seen as a cautious distance from the Gaullists.

After de Gaulle's resignation, the Républicains indépendants supported the Gaullist candidate Georges Pompidou in the 1969 presidential election . However, there were long internal party discussions about this. At times, consideration was given to making Giscard a candidate of his own. The timing seemed too early for him, however, and he feared that a defeat would damage his political career and the chances of the party. During Pompidou's presidency, the independent Republicans continued to participate in government in the Chaban-Delmas and Messmer cabinets : Marcellin remained Minister of the Interior until 1974, Raymond Mondon became Minister of Transport, and Valéry Giscard d'Estaing “Super Minister” for finance and economics (that was, in a way, the price for the support of the Républicains indépendants for Pompidou). In the 1973 general election, the FNRI lost six seats (although its share of the vote increased) because the center-right government camp was no longer as strong as it was in 1968.

Presidency of Giscard d'Estaing

Valery Giscard d'Estaing (1978)

When Pompidou's death in 1974 made an early presidential election necessary, the independent Republicans put up Giscard d'Estaing, their own candidate. Giscard did not want to be perceived as a party candidate of the FNRI, but as a non-partisan candidate of the middle class. He was supported by several smaller parties of the bourgeois spectrum ( Center démocrate , Center républicain , CNIP, Parti radical ), but also by a section of the Gaullist UDR (above all Jacques Chirac ), who were working with the candidate of their own party, Jacques Chaban- Delmas , had overtaken. So Giscard entered the runoff election as the strongest bourgeois candidate and won in the second ballot against François Mitterrand of the socialists.

Although the FNRI was still a rather small party, it - strengthened by the presidency - was able to occupy a disproportionately large number of important ministries. Among others, Michel Poniatowski (a close confidante of Giscard) was Minister of the Interior, Michel d'Ornano Minister of Industry and Jean-Pierre Fourcade Minister of Finance and Economy. However, Giscard d'Estaing never appointed a prime minister from his own party - as a concession to the coalition partners - but left this office first to Jacques Chirac from the UDR and then to the non-party Raymond Barre .

In order to underline that the independent republicans are no longer just a loose association of MPs, but a real party with a mass base, the FNRI changed at its party congress on May 20, 1977 into the Parti républicain et républicain indépendant ( Republican and Independent Republican Party), but this was usually abbreviated to the more handy Parti républicain (PR).

In order to unite the supporters of the Giscard presidency in the upcoming parliamentary election, the PR founded the alliance Union pour la démocratie française (UDF) in 1978 with several smaller bourgeois, but non-Gaullist parties . The name referred to the booklet Démocratie Française published in 1976 by Giscard d'Estaing . In addition to the PR, the Christian Democratic CDS , the social liberal Parti radical , the social democratic MDSF (an anti-communist split from the Parti socialiste ) and the clubs perspectives et réalités , a circle of entrepreneurs and freelancers who supported Giscard d'Estaing without formally, also took part in the UDF To be party members.

In the parliamentary elections in March 1978, the UDF, with 21.4% of the vote and 123 seats, was almost level with the Gaullists, whose party had since been renamed the RPR . In many constituencies there were again agreements between the UDF and the Gaullists under the catchphrase Majorité présidentielle (“majority for the President”). The PR had 71 seats, the greatest success in a general election in independent Republican history.

In the first direct election to the European Parliament in 1979, the UDF's list came to 27.6% and 25 of the 81 French seats. In the European Parliament, the elected PR members of the group of Liberals and Democrats (LD) joined.

Loss of importance after the Giscard era

Towards the end of his seven-year tenure, Giscard d'Estaing's popularity waned. In the presidential election in 1981 he made it back to the second ballot, but was then defeated by the socialist François Mitterrand. He immediately dissolved parliament in order to get a majority for his government in a new election, which he succeeded in doing. The UDF fell back to 62 seats. The independent Republicans had to go into opposition for the first time in their existence.

François Léotard (1988)

Then there was a generation change, younger functionaries moved up to the top of the party. The office of general secretary (equivalent to a party chairman) took over in 1982 François Léotard . Under his leadership, PR broke with Giscard's moderate line and developed in the direction of economically liberal conservatism in the style of the politics of Margaret Thatcher in Great Britain and Ronald Reagan in the USA. Léotard's "bande à Léo" also included Gérard Longuet and Alain Madelin , who had been active in right-wing extremist organizations in their youth.

From 1986 to 1988 there was cohabitation in France : the socialist Mitterrand was still president, but the center-right camp had a majority in parliament, so he had to appoint Jacques Chirac from the RPR as prime minister. During this time, the UDF, and with it the PR, was again involved in the government as a junior partner. François Léotard was Minister of Culture, Alain Madelin Minister of Industry and André Giraud Minister of Defense. For the presidential election in 1988, the UDF nominated Raymond Barre , but the Parti républicain supported this candidacy only very half-heartedly. Barre was eliminated in the first ballot. Mitterrand was re-elected and was able to form a left-wing government again after early parliamentary elections.

The Eurosceptic PR MP Philippe de Villiers , who had already campaigned for a no vote in the 1992 referendum on the Maastricht Treaty, ran for the 1994 European elections with his own list. This received 12.3% and 13 seats from the stand. From this emerged the EU-skeptical, national-conservative and Catholic-traditionalist Mouvement pour la France (MPF), which paradoxically only succeeded in EU elections, but remained meaningless at the national level.

resolution

The 1995 presidential election presented the Parti républicain with an acid test: The UDF officially supported Édouard Balladur , who actually belonged to the RPR but was not set up by his own party. François Léotard supported Balladur's candidacy; Alain Madelin and Giscard d'Estaing, on the other hand, spoke out in favor of the RPR candidate Chirac, who ultimately also won the election. After his re-election as party chairman, Léotard ousted the last remaining supporters of Giscard from the party leadership. The clubs Perspectives et Réalités, which were closely related to Giscard, then broke with PR and formed an independent party, Parti populaire pour la démocratie française (PPDF), within the UDF. The "Giscard loyalists" like Jean-Pierre Fourcade , Hervé de Charette , Jean-Pierre Raffarin and Dominique Bussereau left the PR and joined the PPDF, de Charette became chairman of the new party. Giscard d'Estaing himself also resigned from the Parti républicain, but not to join the PPDF, but to become a direct member (adherent direct) of the UDF; so did Charles Millon and a small group of other MPs. In PR, the decidedly liberal economic forces remained predominantly.

In the face of the 1997 parliamentary election , which resulted in a victory for the left parties, a growth of the far-right Front National and a massive defeat for the center-right parties (RPR and UDF), Alain Madelin took over the party leadership and organized its transformation into the Démocratie Libérale (DL ). With this the party should be positioned more broadly again. In fact, some members who had left PR in 1995 have now returned to DL (including Raffarin and Bussereau). The DL left the UDF in 1998 after a dispute over the question of whether UDF candidates could also be elected regional presidents with votes from the Front National. The DL supported this, the leadership of the UDF around the Christian Democrat François Bayrou rejected it. The more center-oriented parties that remained in the UDF merged in 1998 into a single party, the Nouvelle UDF .

Program

At the time of Giscard d'Estaing's presidency, the independent republicans spoke out in favor of “welfare liberalism”, which is comparable to the German concept of the social market economy . The late Parti républicain, in the 1990s, on the other hand, stood for uncompromising neoliberalism that aimed at a “ minimum of state ”. Accordingly, the PR called for a strengthening of private initiative, re-privatization of nationalized companies, and a reduction in the number of government employees.

Giscard d'Estaing presented himself in the 1970s as a representative of an “advanced liberal society”. According to this, the age of majority was reduced from 21 to 18 years of age during his term of office , a period regulation for legal abortion was introduced, the state broadcasting monopoly was dissolved, film censorship and telecommunications surveillance were restricted, and the constitutional complaint to the Conseil constitutionnel was facilitated. The later PR, on the other hand, positioned itself socio-politically conservative, demanded an upgrading of the family, more far-reaching rights of the security organs to strengthen internal security and a strict fight against illegal immigration.

A continuity in the RI and PR program was the positive attitude towards Europe. The Republicans advocated more common political structures, but they advocated a “very decentralized and democratic Europe”. The PR advocated an integrated European army , but at the same time supported the US military presence in Europe. There was an essential difference between independent Republicans and Gaullists in both the decidedly pro-European and the pro-Atlantic stance.

Youth organization

The independent Republicans had a party-affiliated youth organization from 1966. This initially called itself simply Jeunes républicains indépendants (Young Independent Republicans), in 1974 it renamed itself Génération sociale et libérale , 1977 in Autrement (Anders) and 1979 in Mouvement des jeunes giscardiens (Movement of the young Giscard supporters). Some important personalities started their political careers in this organization, e. B. Patrick Poivre d'Arvor (1987–2008 host of the 8 pm news on TF1), Jean-Pierre Raffarin (2002–05 Prime Minister) and Dominique Bussereau (2004–07 Minister of Agriculture). It broke up in 1994 when Giscard d'Estaing ruled out to run again as a presidential candidate.

literature

  • Andrew Knapp, Vincent Wright: The Government and Politics of France. 5th edition, Routledge, Abingdon (Oxon) / New York 2006.
  • Christine Pütz: Party change in France. Presidential elections and parties between tradition and adaptation. VS Verlag, Wiesbaden 2004.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Christine Pütz: Party change in France. 2004, p. 142.
  2. ^ Knapp, Wright: The Government and Politics of France. 2006, p. 70.
  3. ^ Knapp, Wright: The Government and Politics of France. 2006, p. 233.
  4. ^ A b Christine Pütz: Party change in France. 2004, p. 148.
  5. ^ A b c Roland Höhne: The party system of France. In: Oskar Niedermayer u. a .: The party systems of Western Europe. VS Verlag, Wiesbaden 2006, pp. 161-187, on p. 174.
  6. ^ Christine Pütz: Party change in France. 2004, pp. 148-149.
  7. ^ A b Christine Pütz: Party change in France. 2004, p. 149.
  8. ^ Christine Pütz: Party change in France. 2004, pp. 149-150.
  9. ^ Knapp, Wright: The Government and Politics of France. 2006, p. 274
  10. ↑ a b Udo Kempf: From de Gaulle to Chirac. The French political system. 3rd edition, Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen 1997, p. 197.
  11. ^ Knapp, Wright: The Government and Politics of France. 2006, pp. 228-229.
  12. ^ Frédéric Tristram: Libéralisme. In: Jean Garrigues: La France de la Ve République, 1958–2008. Armand Colin, Paris 2008, p. 539.
  13. ^ Knapp, Wright: The Government and Politics of France. 2006, p. 230.
  14. ↑ Udo Kempf: The parties of the right between unity and dissolution. In: Frankreich-Jahrbuch 1988. pp. 87–114, on p. 87.
  15. ^ Gisela Müller-Brandeck-Bocquet , Patrick Moreau : France. A political geography. Leske + Budrich, Opladen 2000, p. 113.
  16. ^ Knapp, Wright: The Government and Politics of France. 2006, pp. 231-232.
  17. ↑ a b c Udo Kempf: From de Gaulle to Chirac. The French political system. 3rd edition, Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen 1997, p. 198.
  18. ^ Wilfried Loth : From the IV to the V Republic. In: Adolf Kimmel, Henrik Uterwedde: Country Report France. History, politics, economy, society . 2nd edition, Wiesbaden 2005, pp. 63–83, on p. 73.
  19. ^ Klaus Günther: Politics of Compromise. Dissent Management in Pluralist Democracies. VS Verlag, Wiesbaden 2006, p. 112.