VIA, the Way of the People (french: VIA , la voie du peuple, links=no, VIA) is a

social conservative Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institution ...

and

Christian right The Christian right, or the religious right, are Christian political factions characterized by their strong support of socially conservative and traditionalist policies. Christian conservatives seek to influence politics and public policy with t ...

ist party in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The party was known as the Forum of Social Republicans (FRS) between 2001 and June 2009 before being adopting the name Christian Democratic Party (, PCD), which it used until 3 October 2020. The party was founded by

Christine Boutin Christine Boutin (, born 6 February 1944) is a French former politician leading the small French Christian Democratic Party (France), Christian Democratic Party. She served as a member of the French National Assembly representing Yvelines, fro ...

. On 3 October 2020, the party would change its name to the current one. The FRS was established in March 2001 as a

faction within the liberal conservative

Union for French Democracy The Union for French Democracy (french: Union pour la démocratie française, UDF) was a centre to centre-right political party in France. It was founded in 1978 as an electoral alliance to support President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in order to c ...

(UDF) and emerged as an independent party in December of the same year, when Boutin announced her candidacy in the

2002 French presidential election Presidential elections were held in France on 21 April 2002, with a runoff election between the top two candidates, incumbent Jacques Chirac of the Rally for the Republic and Jean-Marie Le Pen of the National Front, on 5 May. This presidential ...

, in contrast with UDF leader and official candidate

François Bayrou François René Jean Lucien Bayrou (; born 25 May 1951) is a French politician who has presided over the Democratic Movement (MoDem) since he founded it in 2007. A centrist, he was a candidate in the 2002, 2007 and 2012 presidential elections. ...

, and was consequently expelled. In 2005, the FRS called for a NO vote in the referendum over 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 unratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for the European U ...

. VIA is a Christian-oriented social conservative party, opposed to

gay marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

and

euthanasia Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different eut ...

. VIA was an associate party of the

Union for a Popular Movement The Union for a Popular Movement (french: link=no, Union pour un mouvement populaire, ; UMP, ) was a centre-right political party in France that was one of the two major contemporary political parties in France along with the centre-left Social ...

and was a member of the

Liaison Committee for the Presidential Majority The Liaison Committee for the Presidential Majority (french: Comité de liaison de la majorité présidentielle, also called the Committee of the Presidential Majority or Committee of the Majority) was a structure initiated by Nicolas Sarkozy to ...

. Since November 2013,

Jean-Frédéric Poisson Jean-Frédéric Poisson (born 22 January 1963) is a French right-wing politician and the president of VIA, the Way of the People (previously called the Christian Democratic Party). He was mayor of Rambouillet from 2004 to 2007, then became a Na ...

has been the president of the party.Jean-Frédéric Poisson succède à Christine Boutin à la tête du Parti chrétien-démocrate
/ref>

Elected officials

*Deputies:

Dino Cinieri Dino Cinieri (born 9 July 1955 in Firminy, Loire) is a French politician of the Republicans (LR) who serves as a member of the National Assembly of France, representing the Loire department. Ahead of the 2022 presidential elections, Cinieri ...

( UMP group) The party also claims 9,500 members as of 2009.Key Numbers, frs-ladroitehumaine.fr
/ref>

References

External links

Official website
Political party factions in France Factions and associate parties of the Union for a Popular Movement Right-wing parties in France European Christian Political Movement Union for French Democracy breakaway groups {{France-party-stub