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However, "contrary to political personalities close to the far right, [François Asselineau's] anti-americanism precludes any aspects of [[islamophobia]], [[racism]] or [[anti-Semitism]]".<ref name="Arrêt"/> Nevertheless, in 2010, the far-right activist {{ill|fr|Serge Ayoub}} welcomed one of Asselineau's conferences, which took place in Ayoub's bar,<ref>[http://blogs.mediapart.fr/blog/frachon23/111112/upr-jean-robin-vs-francois-asselineau « UPR: Jean Robin vs François Asselineau »], on ''Mediapart - Le club'' (accessed on September 29th, 2014).</ref> but François Asselineau claims he did not know who Serge Ayoub was.<ref name="Sudouest"/>
However, "contrary to political personalities close to the far right, [François Asselineau's] anti-americanism precludes any aspects of [[islamophobia]], [[racism]] or [[anti-Semitism]]".<ref name="Arrêt"/> Nevertheless, in 2010, the far-right activist {{ill|fr|Serge Ayoub}} welcomed one of Asselineau's conferences, which took place in Ayoub's bar,<ref>[http://blogs.mediapart.fr/blog/frachon23/111112/upr-jean-robin-vs-francois-asselineau « UPR: Jean Robin vs François Asselineau »], on ''Mediapart - Le club'' (accessed on September 29th, 2014).</ref> but François Asselineau claims he did not know who Serge Ayoub was.<ref name="Sudouest"/>

Asselineau views [[Marine Le Pen]] as a "[[thief]]" who merely robbed his ideas, and sees the [[National Front (France)|Front National]] as not going far enough to deal with the [[European Union]].<ref name="Nord"/> He declared that "the Front National was created by [[François Mitterrand]] and [[Jacques Attali]], and financed by the [[Central Intelligence Agency]]" and that "the [[Bush family]] [...] was also supporting the Front National weekly ''[[Marianne (magazine)|Marianne]]'', which was in charge of promoting Marine Le Pen so as to ruin UPR's political discourse".<ref name="Plus"/> He also claims that "the [[US military]], the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] and [[John Negroponte]] are controlling the market research and polling firm [[Harris Interactive]] so as to inflate poll figures in favour of Marine Le Pen in order to discredit all those who oppose the European Union".<ref name="StreetPress2013"/><ref>{{cite web | auteur = | title = Faux sondages Le Pen : Washington pris la main dans le sac |url = http://www.upr.fr/actualite/france/faux-sondages | work = Union Populaire Républicaine | UPR | accessdate = 30 September 2014}}</ref>


== Political activities ==
== Political activities ==

Revision as of 16:14, 13 October 2014

François Asselineau
File:François Asselineau - UPR.jpg
President of the Popular Republican Union
Assumed office
March 25, 2007
Preceded byNone - Party created
Municipal councillor
for 19th arrondissement of Paris
In office
2001–2008
Personal details
Born (1957-09-14) 14 September 1957 (age 66)
Paris, France
NationalityFrance French
Political partyPopular Republican Union
Children2
Alma materHEC Paris
École nationale d'administration
OccupationCivil Servant
Politician
ProfessionInspector General
Business School professor

François Asselineau (French pronunciation: [fʁɑ̃swa asəlino], born September 14, 1957), is a French politician and an Inspector General for financial matters.

He was a member of the Rally for France (RPF) before creating his own political party the Popular Republican Union (Union Populaire Républicaine or UPR). His movement promotes France's unilateral withdrawal from the European Union, the Eurozone and NATO. He announced his candidature for the 2012 French presidential election but failed to muster the 500 signatures from elected politicians to run for president.

Education

Asselineau enrolled in HEC Paris where he graduated with the MSc in Management from the Grande école program in 1980. He enrolled at École nationale d'administration (ENA) where he graduated in 1985.[1]

Career

After graduating from HEC Paris and before enrolling at École nationale d'administration (ENA), Asselineau started his career in Japan in the department of economic expansion for National Service Overseas (CSNE).[2] Asselineau served in 1985 as inspector General in the inspection générale des Finances.

From 1989 to 1990, he was chief of mission for the National Credit. He was also president of the direction of the Society for Economical and Financial Analysis and Diagnostic (SADEF). In 1991, he became chief of mission of the Asia-Oceania office at the Direction of Foreign Economical Relation (DREE) in the Ministry of Economy and Finance in the Pierre Bérégovoy government.

From 1994 to 1995, he served as minister-counsellor for international affairs[3] in the Ministry of Industry in the Edouard Balladur government.

In June 1995, he was named director of the office of the Ministry of Tourism.[4] In 1996, he moved to the ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he was in charge of economic matters for Asia, Oceania and Latin America until the dissolution of parliament by Jacques Chirac in 1997.

Political views

The "souverainiste" discourse of François Asselineau concentrates on two main targets, the European Union, and the United States. He insists that France should leave the Eurozone, the European Union, and NATO.[5][6] The founding charter of UPR claims: "If it is not the sole cause of all the problems of our country, the creation of the European Union is nevertheless their major cause". According to Asselineau, the UE and NATO "as seen from Washington, [...] are the political side and the military side of the same medal, that of the enthrallment of the European continent to their "buffer zone" so as to surround and contain the Russian continental power".[7] Also according to him, the process leading to European unification was launched solely upon orders from the American government, of which Robert Schuman was but a mere underling, a figurehead, and Jean Monnet "most probably was an agent of the Central Intelligence Agency".[8][9]

François Asselineau grounds his will that France leave the Eurozone by insisting on the poor economic situation of the zone; he claims that "ever since the Antiquity all multinational currencies have always failed in the end"; he states that "recovering our sovereignty shall enable us -as we shall be the masters of our own destiny- to use monetary instruments and customs to increase our competitiveness and relocate production [in France], while simultaneously adapting to the economic situation".[7] Asselineau denies he is a "eurosceptic", preferring to call himself a "euro-atheist".[10] Invited by Russian television networks (Russia Today, ProRussia.tv...), he says he supports Iran in its fight against "euro-atlantism"[6]

Asselineau readily declares he derives his ideas from the 1944 Conseil national de la Résistance, of which he claimed in 2012 that it was his source of inspiration to work out his presidential program, which would resort to "re-nationalisations" and "quality public services".[11][12] Asselineau does not pronounce himself as to what should be done about "the major national issues such as nuclear power in France, the French debt crisis or the decisions to be made about immigration, [which] should be addressed through referendums",[7] "once France has left the European Union".[13]

Rudy Reichstadt, the coordinator of Conspiracy Watch, summed up François Asselineau's ideas as being "utter souverainisme interlaced with anti-US conspiracy theories ("un souverainisme intégral mâtiné de théorie du complot anti-américaine"), and views his strategy as aiming at launching a kind of "take-over bid" on this part of the public enticed by the conspiracist approach of such websites as Réseau Voltaire or Alain Soral's Égalité et Réconciliation;[14] During the UPR summer congress, a member of Réseau Voltaire was invited, as well as Robert Ménard.[15] fr [Jean-Yves Camus], a political scientist, deemed that Asselineau, an "intelligent", "decent man in every respect", may distract the Front National electorate enough to lure those who are attracted to souverainisme and hard right politics.[14]

However, "contrary to political personalities close to the far right, [François Asselineau's] anti-americanism precludes any aspects of islamophobia, racism or anti-Semitism".[16] Nevertheless, in 2010, the far-right activist fr [Serge Ayoub] welcomed one of Asselineau's conferences, which took place in Ayoub's bar,[17] but François Asselineau claims he did not know who Serge Ayoub was.[14]

Asselineau views Marine Le Pen as a "thief" who merely robbed his ideas, and sees the Front National as not going far enough to deal with the European Union.[12] He declared that "the Front National was created by François Mitterrand and Jacques Attali, and financed by the Central Intelligence Agency" and that "the Bush family [...] was also supporting the Front National weekly Marianne, which was in charge of promoting Marine Le Pen so as to ruin UPR's political discourse".[6] He also claims that "the US military, the FBI and John Negroponte are controlling the market research and polling firm Harris Interactive so as to inflate poll figures in favour of Marine Le Pen in order to discredit all those who oppose the European Union".[15][18]

Political activities

In 1999, François Asselineau engaged himself in politics by becoming a member of the Rally for France (RPF), a party created by Charles Pasqua and Philippe de Villiers. He became a member of the national bureau, director of studies and spokesman of the party until autumn 2005.[19] On July 27, 2000, François Asselineau became vice-director of the general council of the Hauts-de-Seine. He was in charge of economic and international affairs.[1] On March 19, 2001, François Asselineau was elected as a member of the council of Paris in the 19e arrondissement de Paris. His list, a right-wing dissident list made with an agreement between Jean Tiberi and Charles Pasqua, was in a triangular against a Rally for the Republic (RPR) list and unified left list composed with Socialist Party (PS).[20] On May 23, 2001, Charles Pasqua nominated François Asselineau as the director of his office of the presidency of the general council of Hauts-de-Seine[21] where he worked until March 30, 2004 when Nicolas Sarkozy took over the position of Charles Pasqua.

On October 20, 2004, Nicolas Sarkozy nominated François Asselineau as the director of the general delegation for economic intelligence within the Minister of Economy and Finance.[22] On December 31, 2004, Asselineau decided to join the group Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) at the Council of Paris.[23] On November 3, 2006, he decided to quit the group and seat with the non-inscrits just after Françoise de Panafieu, for whom he worked, was elected president of the council of Paris for the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP).[24]

Creation of the UPR

In November 2006, Asselineau joined the steering committee of Rally for an Independent and Sovereign France (RIF), a party created by Paul-Marie Coûteaux,[25] but left three months later. On March 25, 2007, for the 50th anniversary of the Rome Treaty signature, he created the Popular Republican Union (UPR).[26]

In September 2007, Asselineau participated in a dissident political group named Paris Libre with several other ex-UMP members.[27] The group ran several lists against the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), and Asselineau ran a list in the 17e arrondissement de Paris against Françoise de Panafieu.[28] However, he then backtracked, denouncing consequent pressure on the members of his list.[29][30]

Election results

In January 2011, Asselineau announced his intention to run for the 2012 French presidential election,[31] and confirmed this intention in December 2011 during the national congress of the Popular Republican Union.[32] However, François Asselineau was finally not among the ten candidates officially endorsed by Constitutional council, as he could muster only 17[26] out of the 500 signatures from elected politicians that are necessary to run for President.[32] As a consequence, Asselineau called for a boycott of the presidential election that he described as "a mockery of democracy".[33]

Following the Cahuzac affair and the resignation of Jérôme Cahuzac for whom Asselineau worked as a civil servant in the Ministry of Finance, Asselineau decided to run for the legislative by-election in the fr [Lot-et-Garonne's 3rd constituency] aside with Régis Chamagne.[34] His candidacy has been described as "atypical",[34] as well of one of the 11 minor ones in this election.[35] He failed to reach the second round with a score of 189 votes (0.58%).[36]

Asselineau ran for the 2014 European Parliament election as the head of the list for the Île-de-France constituency. His purpose was to introduce UPR's program hoping to bring electors deceived from the current political system to his analysis and gain in notoriety thanks to the media exposure[clarification needed].[37][38] Asselineau complained to CSA to not have access to media and claimed that media's principle of equity was to expose parties that are already well-known.[39] He scored 0.56% of votes cast in his constituency.[40]

Relationship with the media and Internet activism

In February 2012, François Asselineau and his party, UPR, claimed they were "barred from the major media" ("barrés des grands médias") and "banned from going on the air" ("interdits d'antenne") as "[their] ideas are upsetting" ("[leur] discours dérange").»[11][41] In 2014, UPR described itself as being "the most censored in France".[42]

On 23 April 2014, François Asselineau's party sent a registered letter to Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel (Audiovisual Superior Council) to demand "urgent action regarding the mainstream broadcasting media to have them accept UPR at last in their broadcasts".[43]

The "news blackout" that Asselineau allegedly had to deal with was criticized again after the 2014 European elections, as his party obtained slightly more votes than Nouveau Parti anticapitaliste (0.41% vs 0.39%)[44] without further drawing the attention of the media.[16][45]

In March 2012, Asselineau complained about the "censorship" he faced on French Wikipedia in which his article had been deleted several times for lack of renown.[16][46][47] In February 2013, UPR complained about what it called "the ill treatment of François Asselineau and UPR on Wikipedia", with an extended report on the subject established by the "Groupe Wiki de l’UPR – Cybermilitantisme" (the "UPR Wiki Group- Internet activism").[48]

Indeed, Asselineau and his team are very active on the Internet:[14] UPR claim to have developped "solely on the Internet" ("exclusivement en ligne")[10] and bank above all on this activism to try and become notable.[46] Rudy Reichstadt characterizes UPR as "a real phenomenon on the Internet", noting that it is "difficult to miss it when one is interested in the conspiracist circles" ("difficile de passer à côté lorsqu’on s’intéresse à la mouvance complotiste").[14] In 2012, UPR created the position of "national manager for Internet activism" ("responsable national au cybermilitantisme"), whose responsibility is to develop and coordinate the various people conducting such activism ("actions cybermilitantes").[49] If the "censorship" exercised by the French Wikipedia is steadily alleged, the website of UPR flattered itself in April 2014 with the creation of a whole series of Wikipedia pages devoted to François Asselineau in different languages.[50]

However, there has been some backlash to this activism. Beyond the remark by Laurent de Boissieu about the harassment that "every journalist has had to deal with, one day or another, at the hands of some UPR activists",[51] Laurent Ruquier concurred: if he finally invited François Asselineau to his well-known entertainment program fr [On n'est pas couché], it was only because he had received, "over about a year, month after month, internet messages and tweets upon tweets" demanding explanations of why he did not invite François Asselineau.[52] Following this program, LePlusNouvelObs wondered about the relevance of granting speaking time to "this kind of conspiracist individual",[6] while Causeur deemed that the main purpose of Laurent Ruquier to invite Asselineau was to serve him up to the commentators of the show so as to make his anti-European ideas appear "corny" ("ringardiser").[53]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Résultats recherche lesechos.fr". Les Echos.fr. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  2. ^ "Résultats recherche lesechos.fr". Les Echos.fr. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  3. ^ "Cabinet de Gérard Longuet Philippe ANDRES François ASSELINEAU". 16566. Les Échos. 21 January 1994. p. 39. Archived from the original on 6 September 2011.
  4. ^ "Résultats recherche lesechos.fr". Les Echos.fr. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  5. ^ François Asselineau fact sheet on the website of the French version of the magazine Slate, retrieved on 12 March 2012
  6. ^ a b c d Pothier, Louise; Merlin, Caroline (23 September 2014). "ONPC. En invitant François Asselineau, Laurent Ruquier cède à la pression des complotistes". Le Plus du Nouvel Observateur..
  7. ^ a b c Asselineau, François (24 March 2012). "Les monnaies plurinationales finissent toujours par exploser" (Interview). Interviewed by Florentin Piffard. Retrieved 2 October 2014. {{cite interview}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |program= (help); Unknown parameter |callsign= ignored (help)
  8. ^ UPR, Dossier de fond : la face cachée de Robert Schuman, UPR official website, February 2011
  9. ^ De Pétain à la CIA, la face cachée de Robert Schuman, UPR official website, updated on 12 October 2013
  10. ^ a b Qui est François Asselineau ?, Valeurs actuelles, September 22d, 2014
  11. ^ a b Ève Moulinier, « François Asselineau, le candidat qui dit non à l'UE », Le Dauphiné libéré, 12 February 2012, page 4
  12. ^ a b Dupont, Isabelle (29 February 2012). "Un « petit candidat » contre la grande Europe". Nord Éclair..
  13. ^ François Asselineau de l'Union Populaire Républicaine - On n'est pas couché, 20 septembre 2014, from 30' 11" till the end (accessed on October 4th, 2014).
  14. ^ a b c d e Législative partielle : la galaxie des micro-partis, Sud-Ouest, 11 June 2013.
  15. ^ a b Robin D'Angelo (20 November 2013). "Sciences-po Aix ouvre son grand amphi au conspirationniste François Asselineau". StreetPress.com [StreetPress]. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  16. ^ a b c Laure Daussy (24 September 2014). "Mais qui est François Asselineau, le souverainiste sans page Wikipedia ?". Arrêt sur images. Retrieved September 29, 2014..
  17. ^ « UPR: Jean Robin vs François Asselineau », on Mediapart - Le club (accessed on September 29th, 2014).
  18. ^ "Faux sondages Le Pen : Washington pris la main dans le sac". Union Populaire Républicaine. Retrieved 30 September 2014. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |auteur= (help); Text "UPR" ignored (help)
  19. ^ "François Asselineau est le Président fondateur de l'UPR". Union Populaire Républicaine - UPR. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  20. ^ "Ile-de-France. Paris (75)". http://www.liberation.fr. Retrieved 30 September 2014. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help)
  21. ^ "Le Monde.fr : Archives". Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  22. ^ "Résultats recherche lesechos.fr". Les Echos.fr. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  23. ^ "Ça bouge à l'UMP". leparisien.fr. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  24. ^ "Démission remarquée à l'UMP". leparisien.fr. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  25. ^ Laurent de Boissieu. "Rassemblement pour l'indépendance et la souveraineté de la France (RIF)". France-Politique.fr. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
  26. ^ a b Béatrice Houchard. "Trois recalés de la présidentielle en repêchage à Villeneuve-sur-Lot". Le Figaro. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  27. ^ Marie-Anne GAIRAUD (September 27, 2007). "Bertrand Delanoë bientôt dans les arrondissements..." Le Parisien.
  28. ^ "24 Heures". Le Parisien. December 22, 2007.
  29. ^ "XVIIe: un divers droite jette l'éponge". Le Figaro. Agence France-Presse. February 21, 2008.
  30. ^ Benoît Hasse (February 26, 2008). "Panafieu malmenée dans son fief du XVIIe". Le Parisien.
  31. ^ Choq FM, "L'autre monde" (The other world), 14 February 2011
  32. ^ a b "Asselineau candidat à la présidentielle". leparisien.fr. Retrieved 30 September 2014. Cite error: The named reference "leparisien" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  33. ^ Interview of François Asselineau (retrieved on October 3d, 2014).
  34. ^ a b J.Sch. "Villeneuve-sur-lot. L'UPR entre conquête et résistance". LaDépêche.fr. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  35. ^ "Villeneuve-sur-Lot: après la démission de Cahuzac, le PS a beaucoup à perdre". L'EXPRESS.fr. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  36. ^ "Ville de Villeneuve sur Lot - Election législative partielle : les résultats définitifs". Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  37. ^ "Asselineau (UPR) à Ermont". leparisien.fr. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  38. ^ "Essonne : Les " petits partis " partent à l'assaut des européennes". Essonne Info - Site d'actualité et d'information en Essonne. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  39. ^ http://www.francetvinfo.fr/elections/europeennes/europeennes-la-galere-des-petits-candidats_604655.html "
  40. ^ "Région Île-de-France  : résultats des élections européennes 2014". francetv info. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  41. ^ L’UPR et François Asselineau sont barrés des grands médias ? C’est à nous tous de les faire connaître autour de nous!, on upr.fr (retrieved on 29 september 2014).
  42. ^ Européennes : la galère des petits candidats, France Télévisions, 21 mai 2014
  43. ^ L’UPR saisit en urgence le CSA en raison du non-respect, par les grands médias audiovisuels, des principes démocratiques posés par l’article 4 de la Constitution, on upr.fr (retrieved on 29 september 2014).
  44. ^ Élections européennes de 2014 en France, france-politique.fr (retrieved on 29 September 2014).
  45. ^ Henriet, Jean-Christophe (15 September 2014). "Le fondateur de l'UPR à Nevers aux côtés de Charles-Henri Gallois (UPR 58) : "On doit sortir de l'Europe !"". Le Journal du Centre. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |day= (help).
  46. ^ a b Guillaume Champeau (13 March 2012). "François Asselineau retrouve sa page Wikipédia, provisoirement". Numerama. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  47. ^ "Qui est vraiment l'UPR ?". Marianne. 24 June 2014.
  48. ^ Le traitement de défaveur de François Asselineau et de l’UPR sur Wikipédia, on upr.fr (retrieved on September 29th, 2014).
  49. ^ Nomination d'un Délégué national chargé du cybermilitantisme, on francoisasselineau.fr (accessed on September 29th, 2014).
  50. ^ La notice Wikipédia de François Asselineau est désormais disponible en langues grecque et arabe, on upr.fr (retrieved on September 29th, 2014).
  51. ^ fr [Laurent de Boissieu]. "Réponse ouverte à François Asselineau". ipolitique.fr. Retrieved September 29, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  52. ^ François Asselineau de l'Union Populaire Républicaine - On n'est pas couché, 20 septembre 2014, at 2 mn 10" (accessed on October 4th, 2014).
  53. ^ On ne touche pas à l’Europe chez Ruquier…, Causeur, September 22d, 2014
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