The Communist Party of Réunion (french: Parti Communiste Réunionnais, PCR) is a

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

in the French

overseas department The overseas departments and regions of France (french: départements et régions d'outre-mer, ; ''DROM'') are departments of France that are outside metropolitan France, the European part of France. They have exactly the same status as mainlan ...

Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...

(in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

History

PCR was founded in 1959, as the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Unit ...

(PCF) federation in Reunion became an independent party. In the same year, they decided to include demands for

autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ...

in their manifesto. The party said that it wanted autonomy but not independence. It has since abandoned its policy of autonomism.

Paul Vergès Paul Vergès (5 March 1925 – 11/12 November 2016) was a Réunionese politician. Born in Ubon Ratchathani, Siam to a French diplomat father and Vietnamese mother. Vergès founded the Communist Party of Réunion in 1960, a party which he led unt ...

led the party from its foundation until February 1993, when he stepped down and

Élie Hoarau Élie Hoarau (born July 8, 1938 in Sainte-Suzanne, Réunion) is a Reunionese politician and member of the Communist Party of Réunion. He is the husband of Senator Gélita Hoarau. Hoarau was elected as a member of the National Assembly of Franc ...

was elected

general secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

; Vergès is currently serving as senator in the French senate. During the late 1990s the relations between PCF and PCR became somewhat strained, regarding differences in party lines. Relations were, however, fully restored in 2005, on the occasion of PCF leader

Marie-George Buffet Marie-George Buffet (née Kosellek; born 7 May 1949) is a French politician. She was the head of the French Communist Party (PCF) from 2001 to 2010. She joined the Party in 1969, and she served in the government as Minister of Youth Affairs an ...

's visit to the island; subsequently, the PCR stood on the list of the French Communist Party in the 2004 European Parliament elections, and Vergès became one of three

MEPs A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

elected from the PCF list at national level. The main party leaders are Hoarau,

Huguette Bello Huguette Bello (born 24 August 1950) is a French politician from Réunion. A former member of the Reunionese Communist Party (PCR), she split with the Communists in 2012 and formed her own party, For Réunion (French: ''Pour la Réunion'', P ...

and

Pierre Vergès Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

(the son of Paul Vergès). The press outlet of the party is the

daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

'' Témoignages'',http://www.philbu.net/media-anthropology/wergin_worldmusic.pdf founded by Paul Vergès' father, Dr.

Raymond Vergès Raymond Vergès (15 August 1882 – 2 July 1957) was a French politician. He represented the French Communist Party in the Constituent Assembly elected in 1945 and in the National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a ...

, in 1944. Temoignages has headquarters in Le Port, where the Communist Party usually gets most of their votes. In 2012, Pour La Réunion was created by

as a splinter party.

Important members

National Secretary

Senators

(2011–2016) *

Gélita Hoarau Gélita Hoarau (born 15 January 1956) is a member of the Senate of France, representing the island of Réunion. She is a member of the Communist, Republican, and Citizen Group. Her husband is Élie Hoarau Élie Hoarau (born July 8, 1938 in Sai ...

(wife of

) (2005–2011, 2016–2017)

Deputies

(1997)

Mayors

( Saint-Paul, 2008–2014) * Claude Hoarau ( Saint-Louis) * Roland Robert (

La Possession La Possession () is a commune in the French overseas department of Réunion. It is located on the northwest side of the island of Réunion, between the capital of Saint-Denis and the commune of Le Port. To the territory of this commune belo ...

) * Yolande Pausé (Sainte-Suzanne) * Éric Fruteau ( Saint-André) * Jean-Yves Langenier ( Le Port)

Regional Councillors

* Maya Cesari (stepdaughter of

) * Yasmina Panshbaya *

* Rahiba Dubois * Catherine Gaud * Aline Hoarau Murin * Béatrice Leperlier * Philippe Jean-Pierre

Departemental Councillors

* Maurice Gironcel * Roland Ramakistin * Yvon Virapin * Robert Nativel * Yvon Bello * Éric Fruteau * Monica Govindin * Jean-Yves Langenier * Roland Robert * Pierre Vergès (son of

)

References

* Gilles Gauvin,
Le parti communiste de la Réunion (1946-2000)
', Vingtième Siècle. Revue d'histoire, No. 68 (Oct. - Dec., 2000), pp. 73–94

External links

Témoignages

Paul Vergès MEP
{{DEFAULTSORT:Communist Party Of Reunion Anti-capitalist political parties Political parties in Réunion Communist parties in Réunion Political parties established in 1959 1959 establishments in Réunion Parties represented in the European Parliament