Gérard Schivardi (born 17 April 1950) is a French politician. He contended in the French presidential election of 2007 under the colours of the

Workers' Party Workers' Party is a name used by several political parties throughout the world. The name has been used by both organisations on the left and right of the political spectrum. It is currently used by followers of Marxism, Marxism–Leninism, Maoism ...

(''Parti des Travailleurs'') of Trotskyist legacy. He came last in the first round of balloting on 22 April, obtaining 0.34% of the popular vote (123,540 votes).

Biography

Schivardi was born in 1950 in

Narbonne Narbonne ( , , ; ; ; Late Latin:) is a commune in Southern France in the Occitanie region. It lies from Paris in the Aude department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It is located about from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and was ...

. He is married and a father of two. Schivardi has been a master craftsman mason since 1970, and is still in activity as of 2007. From 1973 to 1988, he was president of the syndicate of the masons of

Aude Aude ( ; ) is a Departments of France, department in Southern France, located in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region and named after the river Aude (river), Aude. The departmental council also calls it " ...

. In 1975 he joined the

Socialist party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

. In 1989, he was elected in the city council of Mailhac; in 1995 he became second deputy mayor. He was elected

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of Mailhac in 2001. He advocated strong public services and increased power and independence of communes, denouncing what he called the "forced intercommunality". In 2002, Schivardi met Daniel Gluckstein, who convinced him to support his campaign. In July 2003 he was elected representative of the Canton of Ginestas and resigned form the Socialist Party. He then turned "Independent socialist", and was not a member of a political party afterwards, until he joined the Independent Workers' Party (POI) in 2008. On 20 September 2003 he took position against the

Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE; commonly referred to as the European Constitution or as the Constitutional Treaty) was an Ratification, unratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for ...

and founded the "''Comité national pour la victoire du vote NON''" ("National committee for victory of NO votes"). In 2004, he founded the "National Committee for Defense of Communes and Public Services" (''Comité de défense des communes et des services publics''). On 18 November, he was selected as candidate supported by a "''Comité National pour la reconquête de la démocratie''" ("National Committee for reconquest of Democracy"). On 16 March 2008 he was re-elected as mayor of Mailhac,

French presidential election of 2007

Schivardi was one of the twelve candidates for the

2007 French presidential election Presidential elections were held in France on 21 and 22 April 2007 to elect the successor to Jacques Chirac as president of France (and ''ex officio'' Co-Prince of Andorra) for a five-year term. As no candidate received a majority of the vot ...

. He was the first "small" candidate to obtain the 500 sponsorships from elected officials which are necessary to become an official candidate. Schivardi claimed to be an "authentic socialist, independent and no affiliate". He attempted to run as "the mayors' candidate" (''le candidat des maires''), but was barred from doing so after the prime association of French mayors, the ''Association des Maires de France'', obtained an injunction against Schivardi. A similar decision was reached by the commission overseeing the "official campaign" of the election; an appeal against this decision was rejected by the Constitutional Council.Decision of 5 April 2007
of the Constitutional Council regarding the request by Gérard Schivardi
Légifrance
copy) Schivardi then changed his slogan to ''candidat de maires'', which may be translated as "candidate of some mayors". The key proposal of Schivardi's programme was that France should withdraw from the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

and construct a "Europe of free people and free nations". Several proposals in Schivardi's program, including the election of a new national assembly to suppress the

French Fifth Republic The Fifth Republic () is France's current republic, republican system of government. It was established on 4 October 1958 by Charles de Gaulle under the Constitution of France, Constitution of the Fifth Republic.. The Fifth Republic emerged fr ...

's institutions, echo those of Daniel Gluckstein in 2002. In addition to his far-left-wing base of syndicalists and

militants, Schivardi was supported by some mayors affiliated of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (, , PCF) is a Communism, communist list of political parties in France, party in France. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its Member of the European Parliament, MEPs sit with The Left in the ...

Union for a Popular Movement The Union for a Popular Movement ( ; UMP ) was a Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative List of political parties in France, political party in France, largely inspired by the Gaullism, Gaullist tradition. During its existence, the UMP was o ...

Union for French Democracy The Union for French Democracy ( ; UDF) was a centre-right political party in France. The UDF was founded in 1978 as an electoral alliance to support President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in order to counterbalance the Gaullist preponderance over ...

, who don't support the communal policy of their parties. Schivardi's official site and documentation said that he was supported by the

, but he denied being a member of that party, or a

trotskyist Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...

Since 2015

In 2015, he co-founded the

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schivardi, Gerard 1950 births Living people People from Narbonne Mayors of places in Occitania (administrative region) Candidates in the 2007 French presidential election French people of Italian descent