Debout la France (, ; DLF) is a
French political party founded by
Nicolas Dupont-Aignan in 1999 under the name Debout la République (''Republic Arise'', DLR) as the "genuine
Gaullist" branch of the
Rally for the Republic
The Rally for the Republic (french: Rassemblement pour la République ; RPR ), was a Gaullist and conservative political party in France. Originating from the Union of Democrats for the Republic (UDR), it was founded by Jacques Chirac in 1976 a ...
(RPR). It was relaunched again in 2000 and 2002 and held its inaugural congress as an autonomous party in 2008. At the 2014 congress its name was changed to Debout la France.
It is led by Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, who holds the party's only seat in the
French National Assembly
The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known a ...
. Dupont-Aignan contested the
2012 presidential election
This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included.
January
*3–4 January: E ...
and received 644,043 votes in the first ballot, or 1.79% of the votes cast, finishing seventh. In the
2007 presidential election
This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, although they are not elections. By-elections are not i ...
, he had failed to win the required 500 endorsements from elected officials to run. He dropped out without endorsing any candidate. However, he was re-elected by the first round of the
2007 legislative election as a DLF candidate in his home department of
Essonne.
The party was a member of
EUDemocrats
Europeans United for Democracy – Alliance for a Europe of Democracies, formerly known as ''EUDemocrats'', was a Eurosceptic and self-described Eurorealist alliance of parties and movements from 15 European countries. It operated as a transna ...
, a
Eurosceptic
Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek reform ...
transnational
European political party. In 2019, for the European elections, the party joined forces with the
CNIP
The National Centre of Independents and Peasants (''Centre National des Indépendants et Paysans'', CNIP) is a right-wing agrarian political party in France, founded in 1951 by the merger of the National Centre of Independents (the heir of the ...
to form an alliance named
Les Amoureux de la France
Les Amoureux de la France () is a national-conservative political alliance launched in 2018 for the 2019 European Parliament election in France. The alliance contains the CNIP, the PCD and Nicolas Dupont-Aignan's party, Debout la France
Debout ...
("The Lovers of France"), and announced its alliance with the
European Conservatives and Reformists
The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) is a soft Eurosceptic, anti- federalist political group of the European Parliament. The ECR is the parliamentary group of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party) European pol ...
.
Popular support and electoral record
DLF's electoral support is concentrated in Dupont-Aignan's department of
Essonne, where the DLF list polled 5.02% in the
2009 European Parliament election
The 2009 European Parliament election was held in the 27 member states of the European Union (EU) between 4 and 7 June 2009. A total of 736 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) were elected to represent some 500 million Europeans, making th ...
and it polled up to 36.14% in his hometown of
Yerres
Yerres () is a commune in the Essonne department, in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.
Population
Inhabitants are called ''Yerrois'' in French.
Geography
Yerres lies in the North-Eastern p ...
. The party also polled well in the
ÃŽle-de-France region (2.44%), the
North-West
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east ...
(2.4%) and the
East constituency (2.33%), owing the regions' conservative and
Gaullist departments.
In the
2012 presidential election
This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included.
January
*3–4 January: E ...
, Dupont-Aignan obtained 1.79% of votes at the first round and did not endorse any candidate in the second. In the following
legislative elections
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
, Dupont-Aignan was elected to the National Assembly in
Essonne's 8th constituency.
The
European election of 2014 saw an the party increase its share of the popular vote to 3.82%, although it failed to elect any MEPs.
Dupont-Aignan was again the party's candidate in the
2017 presidential election, obtaining 4.73% of the vote in the first round. He then endorsed the
National Front's candidate
Marine Le Pen
Marion Anne Perrine "Marine" Le Pen (; born 5 August 1968) is a French lawyer and politician who ran for the French presidency in 2012, 2017, and 2022. A member of the National Rally (RN; previously the National Front, FN), she served as its pre ...
in the second round. In the following
legislative elections
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
, Dupont-Aignan was re-elected to the
National Assembly.
Ideology and positions
During the
2012 French presidential election
Presidential elections in France, Presidential elections were held in France on 22 April 2012 (or 21 April in some overseas departments and territories), with a second round Two-round system, run-off held on 6 May (or 5 May for those same territ ...
, the party defined itself as representing
social Gaullism
Gaullism (french: link=no, Gaullisme) is a French political stance based on the thought and action of World War II French Resistance leader Charles de Gaulle, who would become the founding President of the Fifth French Republic. De Gaulle with ...
and an alternative to the left-right divide. When founding the party, Dupont-Aignan positioned it to the right of what he calls the "UMPS" (a neologism of the former centre-right
Rally for the Republic
The Rally for the Republic (french: Rassemblement pour la République ; RPR ), was a Gaullist and conservative political party in France. Originating from the Union of Democrats for the Republic (UDR), it was founded by Jacques Chirac in 1976 a ...
and the centre-left
Socialist Party) but not as hardline as the
French National Front
The National Rally (french: Rassemblement National, ; RN), until 2018 known as the National Front (french: link=no, Front National, ; FN), is a far-rightAbridged list of reliable sources that refer to National Rally as far-right:
Academic:
* ...
, which he summed up with the slogan ''Neither system nor extreme.''
The party has been defined by the media and political analysts as
conservative,
nationalist,
populist and
Gaullist. It is generally positioned on the
right-wing
Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...
and sometimes
far-right
Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...
of the political spectrum, although the party and members of the
French Council of State
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...
have disputed the latter label.
The party has advocated that France should leave the
Eurozone and takes a highly critical stance of the
European Union, denouncing what it regards as
globalism
Globalism refers to various patterns of meaning beyond the merely international. It is used by political scientists, such as Joseph Nye, to describe "attempts to understand all the interconnections of the modern world—and to highlight patterns ...
against French identity and argues that France should reclaim sovereignty it regards as lost to the EU. It also calls for strict border controls, regulation of immigration and the reopening of penal colonies for violent criminals and convicted terrorists.
On economic matters, the party takes a largely
protectionist attitude (including offering tax incentives for businesses to remain in France) and supports nationalizing the French highway system.
[.] which last till 2020.
Elections
Presidency
European Parliament
Regional Parliament
Elected officials
Nicolas Dupont-Aignan (
Essonne) is the only DLF member of the
National Assembly. The party also claims 3 general councillors, and Mayors in four communes:
Yerres
Yerres () is a commune in the Essonne department, in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.
Population
Inhabitants are called ''Yerrois'' in French.
Geography
Yerres lies in the North-Eastern p ...
,
Cambrai
Cambrai (, ; pcd, Kimbré; nl, Kamerijk), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department and in the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, regio ...
,
Saint-Prix and
Ancinnes
Ancinnes () is a commune in the Sarthe department in the region of Pays de la Loire in north-western France.
It lies within the Parc naturel régional Normandie-Maine and is on the edge of the forest of Perseigne.
It is 8 km from Alenç ...
.
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arise The Republic
Right-wing populist parties
Right-wing populism in France
2008 establishments in France
Conservative parties in France
French nationalist parties
Eurosceptic parties in France
Gaullist parties
National conservative parties
Political parties established in 2008
Political parties of the French Fifth Republic
Right-wing parties in France