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Left Party (France)

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Left Party
Parti de Gauche
CoordinatorsEric Coquerel & Danielle Simonnet
Founded1 February 2009 (2009-02-01)
Split fromSocialist Party
Headquarters20–22 rue Doudeauville, 75018 Paris
Membership (2014)9,000[1]
IdeologyDemocratic socialism
Left-wing populism[2][3]
Environmentalism
Alter-globalization
Soft euroscepticism
Political positionLeft-wing
National affiliationLeft Front
European affiliationParty of the European Left
European Parliament groupEuropean United Left-Nordic Green Left
International affiliationNone
Colours    Red, green
National
Assembly
0 / 577
Senate
0 / 348
European
Parliament
1 / 74
Regional councils
7 / 1,880
Website
www.lepartidegauche.fr

The Left Party (Parti de Gauche, PG) is a French democratic socialist political party. It seeks to emulate the German political party Die Linke led by Katja Kipping and Bernd Riexinger.

History

People march waving flags during a demonstration against expulsions of foreign students on November 5, 2013 in Toulouse.

It was founded in November 2008 by former Socialist senator Jean-Luc Mélenchon and deputy Marc Dolez and others dissidents of the party together with the MARS movement (Mouvement pour une Alternative Républicaine et Sociale, "Movement for a Republican and Social Alternative").

They had left the PS five days earlier, in protest of the result of the Reims Congress vote on motions, where the leftist motion they supported won only 19%.

They were joined after by other members from the left of the Socialist Party, by people who hadn't been members of a political party before and by dissidents from the Green Party following the deputy Martine Billard.

In November 2013, the PG joined the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel.[4]

Co-presidents and co-founders Mélenchon and Billard stepped down from office in 2014.[5] Since its 2015 congress, the party is led by its coordinators and spokespersons Eric Coquerel and Danielle Simonnet.[6]

Elected officials

Around 90 local elected officials (municipal, regional and general councillors), including two members of the Council of Paris, initially joined the party. This number has dropped since then.

The PG has not yet run independently in an election, so its base of support is hard to pin-point.

European Parliament

European Parliament
Election year Number of votes % of overall vote # of seats won
2009 1,115,021 6.47%[7] 1[8]
2014 1,252,730 6.61% 1[9]

References

  1. ^ Nina Bontemps-Terry (12 July 2014). "Le Parti de gauche, rongé par la désertion de ses militants". Le Point (in French).
  2. ^ Denis Tugdual (5 April 2013). "Le Pen-Mélenchon: la mode est au langage populiste". L'Express (in French).
  3. ^ Jean-Laurent Cassely (15 April 2013). "Le populisme "vintage" de Jean-Luc Mélenchon, trop élaboré pour être efficace". Slate (in French).
  4. ^ "Le Parti de Gauche s'engage dans les campagnes boycott, désinvestissement, sanctions, à l'égard d'Israël". Le Parti de Gauche.
  5. ^ "French far-left leader steps down, but not leaving politics". Radio France Internationale. 22 August 2014.
  6. ^ "Le Secrétariat exécutif national". Le Parti de Gauche.
  7. ^ Results of the Left Front which includes the larger French Communist Party
  8. ^ Of the 5 Left Front MEP, 1 is a member of the PG
  9. ^ Of the 4 Left Front MEP, 1 is a member of the PG
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