Union for a Popular Movement
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Union pour un Mouvement Populaire | |
|---|---|
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| Leader | Nicolas Sarkozy |
| Founded | November 17, 2002 |
| Headquarters | 55, rue La Boétie 75384 Paris Cedex 08 |
| Political Ideology | Conservatism, Liberal conservatism, Christian Democracy, Gaullism, Conservative liberalism, Liberalism and Libertarianism (minority factions) |
| European Affiliation | European People's Party, European Democrat Union |
| International Affiliation | Christian Democratic International, International Democrat Union |
| Colours | Blue, Red |
| 2007 Presidential candidate | Nicolas Sarkozy |
| Website | www.u-m-p.org |
| See also | Constitution of France France Politics |
The Union for a Popular Movement (Union pour un Mouvement Populaire, UMP), initially named the Union for the Presidential Majority (Union pour la Majorité Présidentielle), is the main French conservative political party.
As indicated by its initial name, the UMP generally supports the policies of President Jacques Chirac. However, in 2004, the party showed increasing signs of independence. The unpopularity with the electorate of Jacques Chirac and Jean-Pierre Raffarin's administration led most members of the UMP to support Nicolas Sarkozy, a rival of Chirac. The party also publicly disapproved of Turkey's proposed membership in the European Union, which Chirac had previously endorsed several times publicly.
The party has an absolute majority in the National Assembly but relies on its reluctant junior partner, the UDF, in the Senate.
The UMP is a member of the European People's Party and of the International Democrat Union.
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[edit] History
Since the 1980s, the political groups of the parliamentary right connected up about economic liberalism and European build. Besides, the rivalries have partcipated in the 1981 and 1988 electoral defeats. Some politicians advocated the constitution of a confederation then, a party.
Before the 2002 presidential campaign, the supporters of President Chirac who were members of the three right-wing parliamentary party, founded an association, the Union on the move. After Chirac's re-election, in order to prepare the legislative election, the Union for the Presidential Majority was created. It was re-named Union for a Popular Movement some months later.
UMP was founded from the merger of the Gaullist-conservative Rally for the Republic (Rassemblement pour la République, RPR), the conservative-liberal Liberal Democracy (Démocratie Libérale, DL), and a sizeable portion of the centrist Union for French Democracy (Union pour la Démocratie Française, UDF), more precisely many Christian Democrats (as Philippe Douste-Blazy and Jacques Barrot), the social-liberal Radical Party and the centrist Popular Party for French Democracy (both associate parties to UDF until 2002).
The party was thus born by the meeting of four major French political traditions: Gaullism, Liberalism (Republicanism), Christian Democracy (Popularism) and Radicalism.
The first president of the UMP, Alain Juppé, a close associate of Jacques Chirac, resigned on 15 July 2004 after being convicted of political corruption in January of the same year. On 29 November 2004, Nicolas Sarkozy announced that he would officially take over the presidency of the UMP and resign his position as finance minister, ending months of speculation.
In 2004 French regional elections the UMP suffered a heavy blow, losing 20 out of 22 regions in Metropolitan France and securing only half of the departments. This led to the fall of Jean-Pierre Raffarin government (2001-04) and to the formation of a new cabinet, presided by another UMP politician, Dominique de Villepin.
As of January 2007, Sarkozy, who is minister of interior in the De Villepin government and who is an opposer of the Chirac-de Villepin duo, is one of the leading contenders in the 2007 presidential election race.
[edit] Factions
[edit] Sarkozystes
- Liberal Conservatives (conservatives, liberal-conservatives and conservative liberals): Nicolas Sarkozy, Jean-Claude Gaudin, Jean-Pierre Raffarin (close to Chirac), Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, Édouard Balladur, Dominique Bussereau, François Fillon, Michel Barnier, Dominique Perben, Jean-François Mattei, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, Charles Millon, Alain Lamassoure, Brice Hortefeux, François Baroin
- Reformers (liberals and libertarians): Hervé Novelli, Gérard Longuet, Alain Madelin (president of the Liberal Circles), Patrick Devedjian, Jean-Pierre Soisson, Jean-Pierre Gorges, Claude Goasguen, Pierre Lellouche (president of "Liberal Generation"), Louis Giscard d'Estaing
- Free Right (conservative liberals, libertarians and souverainists): ): Rachid Kaci, Alexandre Del Valle, Yannick Favennec, Étienne Blanc, François d'Aubert
- Democratic and Popular (christian-democrats and centrists): Philippe Douste-Blazy (supporter of de Villepin), Pierre Méhaignerie, Hervé de Charette, Adrien Zeller, Jacques Barrot, Nicole Fontaine, Pierre-André Wiltzer, Marc-Philippe Daubresse, Alain Joyandet, Antoine Herth
- Forum of Social Republicans (social-conservatives and christian-democrats): Christine Boutin, Jean-Frédéric Poisson, Vincent You, Charles de Champeaux
[edit] Chiraquiens
- Neo-Gaullistes (rightish Gaullistes and secular-minded conservatives, considering themselves the true heirs of President Charles de Gaulle): Jacques Chirac, Dominique de Villepin, Alain Juppé (supporter of the candidacy of Sarkozy), Jean-Louis Debré, Michèle Alliot-Marie (supporter of the candidacy of Sarkozy), Jean Tiberi
- Social-Gaullistes (leftish Gaullistes, social-democrats): Jean-Jacques Aillagon, Philippe Dechartre, Jean Matteoli, Bernard Reygrobellet, Yves Guéna, Alain Terrenoire, Jean Peyrelevade, Hamlaoui Mekachera
- Radicals and other social-liberal centrists: André Rossinot, François Loos, Jean-Louis Borloo, Renaud Dutreil, Serge Lepeltier, Jean-Luc Roméro (Gay Lib)
[edit] Souverainists
- Arise the Republic (conservative-liberals, national-conservatives and souverainists): Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, Adrien Gouteyron, Yves Jego, Lionnel Luca, Michel Terrot, René André
- Rally for France (national-conservatives and souverainists): Charles Pasqua, Lionnel Luca, Jacques Myard, Jean-Jacques Guillet, Philippe Pemezec, Georges Siffredi
- National Centre of Independents and Peasants (national-conservatives, conservative liberals and souverainists): Philippe Dominati, Christian Vanneste, Edouard Leveau, Jérôme Rivière
[edit] Ecologists
- Blue Ecologie (centrist-ecologists): Corinne Lepage, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, Patrice Hernu, Antoine Waechter
[edit] Leadership
[edit] Presidents
- Alain Juppé (2002−04)
- Nicolas Sarkozy (2004−...)
[edit] Vice-Presidents
- Jean-Claude Gaudin (2002−...)
[edit] General Secretaries
- Philippe Douste-Blazy (2002−04)
- Pierre Méhaignerie (2004−...)
[edit] See also
[edit] Related link
- (French) UMP official site
- (French) Forum de la Droite Européenne, ancien FPL UMP
