Jean-Pierre Chevènement (; born 9 March 1939)List of Senators re-elected in 2008
(PDF file), Senate website. is a French politician who served as a minister in the 1980s and 1990s best known for his candidacy in the

2002 French presidential election Presidential elections in France, 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 Ra ...

. After serving as

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 ...

Belfort Belfort (; archaic , ) is a city in northeastern France, situated approximately from the Swiss border. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Territoire de Belfort. Belfort is from Paris and from Basel. The residents of the city ...

, he was elected to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for the Territoire de Belfort in 2008. As a cofounder of the Socialist Party (PS) and founder of the Citizen and Republican Movement (MRC), he is a significant figure of the French left.

Biography

Background

The Chevènement family is of Swiss origin, with their original name, Schwennemann, having been gallicized to Chevènement in the 18th century. He was born in

near the Swiss border, speaks German, and studied in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Beginning in politics

Chevènement's idiosyncratic left-wing nationalism has led to comparison with the late British politician Peter Shore. He describes his Eurosceptic and Gaullist position as " republican". He was

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 ...

from 1983 to 2008 and was a Deputy in the National Assembly from 1973 to 2002. He joined the

French Section of the Workers' International The French Section of the Workers' International (, SFIO) was a major socialist political party in France which was founded in 1905 and succeeded in 1969 by the present Socialist Party. The SFIO was founded in 1905 as the French representativ ...

(SFIO) and founded the Center for Socialist Studies, Research and Education (''Centre d'études, de recherche et d'éducation socialistes'' or CERES). The organization constituted the left wing of the party, and promoted an alliance with the

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 ...

. In 1969 the SFIO was superseded by the Socialist Party (''Parti socialiste'' or PS). Two years later, CERES supported the takeover of the party by

François Mitterrand François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was a French politician and statesman who served as President of France from 1981 to 1995, the longest holder of that position in the history of France. As a former First ...

. It played a major role in drawing up the Socialist plan for victory in the 1981 elections.

In governments

Chevènement was Minister of Research and Industry from 1981 to 1983, when he resigned, for the first of three times in his career. He disagreed with the change in economic policy made by President Mitterrand in order to stay in the

European Monetary System The European Monetary System (EMS) was a multilateral adjustable exchange rate agreement in which most of the nations of the European Economic Community (EEC) linked their currencies to prevent large fluctuations in relative value. It was initi ...

. He has said that "a minister has to keep his mouth shut; if he wants to open it, he resigns". However, he returned to the cabinet as Minister of National Education from 1984 to 1986. Appointed Minister of Defence in 1988, he served until 1991, when he resigned due to his opposition to Operation Desert Storm, which he believed had exceeded the mandate granted by Resolution 678. After this he opposed the

Maastricht Treaty The Treaty on European Union, commonly known as the Maastricht Treaty, is the foundation treaty of the European Union (EU). Concluded in 1992 between the then-twelve Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Communities, ...

, an issue on which Mitterrand and the PS led the "yes" campaign. In 1993 he left the PS and founded a new political party: the Citizens' Movement (''Mouvement des citoyens'' or MDC). Chevènement and the MDC participated in the formation of the Plural Left coalition. When it won the 1997 legislative election he became Minister of the Interior in the government of Lionel Jospin. On 2 September 1998, Chevènement underwent surgery on his gall bladder. He then had a severe

allergic reaction Allergies, also known as allergic diseases, are various conditions caused by hypersensitivity of the immune system to typically harmless substances in the environment. These diseases include Allergic rhinitis, hay fever, Food allergy, food al ...

to the

anesthetic An anesthetic (American English) or anaesthetic (British English; see spelling differences) is a drug used to induce anesthesia ⁠— ⁠in other words, to result in a temporary loss of sensation or awareness. They may be divided into t ...

, causing him to lapse into a coma for 8 days. He began to recover, leaving the hospital on 22 October, but he could not work in his ministry for another four months. As a result of this episode he gained the nickname "the miracle of the republic". For the third time, Chevènement resigned from the government in 2000 because of his opposition to giving increased

autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be ...

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

and in order to prepare his candidacy to the 2002 presidential elections.

2002 presidential election

He was a candidate at the 2002 presidential election. He put himself forward as the leader of the "republicans" against what he called the " Chirac/ Jospin duo". He created the Republican Pole, for more left-wing nationalists. He won 5% of the vote. Many Socialists blamed Chevènement for the elimination of Lionel Jospin in the first round of the presidential race. Consequently, at the June 2002 legislative election, the PS invested a candidate against him in the Belfort constituency. In this, he was defeated by 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 ...

(UMP) candidate and lost his parliamentary seat.

Citizen and Republican Movement

Finally, the Republican Pole split and Chevènement created the Citizen and Republican Movement (''Mouvement républicain et citoyen'' or MRC), which described itself as a left-wing party. He reconciled with the PS when, after raising the possibility of a new presidential candidacy, he renounced this to support

Ségolène Royal Ségolène Royal (; born Marie-Ségolène Royal; 22 September 1953) is a French politician who took part in the 2007 French presidential election, losing to Nicolas Sarkozy in the second round. She was the first woman in France's history to r ...

's candidacy in the 2007 presidential election. In spite of the PS support, he failed to retake his parliamentary seat at the 2007 legislative election. He announced that he would not stand as a candidate for another term as

of Belfort. In 2004 he established the Foundation "Res Publica", which aims to promote the 'republican model' (''le modèle républicain'') and to define a long-term political vision. Chevènement states, however, that ''Res Publica'' is not a political party. In the Senate election held on 21 September 2008, Chevènement was elected as a Senator from the Territory of Belfort, defeating his opponent, Socialist candidate Yves Ackerman. In June 2014, he announced that he will not stand at the 2014 Senate election. He tried to be candidate for the presidential election of 2012.

Political profile

Jean-Pierre Chevènement is a souverainist and patriotic left-wing politician, a kind of left-wing gaullist. In consequence, he is opposed to European federalism because of a possible disappearance of nations and the creation of a non-democratic construction led by non-elected technocrats. He calls for a transformation of the single currency (

Euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

) into a common currency, allowing countries to adapt and control their economies, but also allowing EU to have a single voice in the world. Indeed, he has criticized the bad influence of a strong currency on other countries of Europe such as Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal. In office he defended the "French status" in

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

: i.e. outside the integrated military command. He opposed rejoining it in 2009. He defends a strict separation of church and state in addition to his vision of a harmonious nation-state, being against communitarianism and for

cultural assimilation Cultural assimilation is the process in which a minority group or culture comes to resemble a society's Dominant culture, majority group or fully adopts the values, behaviors, and beliefs of another group. The melting pot model is based on this ...

Political career

Governmental functions * Minister of State Minister of Research and Technology: 1981–1982 * Minister of State, Minister of Industry Research: 1982–1983 * Minister of National Education: 1984–1986 * Minister of Defense: 1988–1991 * Minister of Interior: 1997–2000 Electoral mandates ''National Assembly of France'' Member of the

National Assembly of France The National Assembly (, ) is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral French Parliament under the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (France), Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known ...

for Territoire de Belfort (1st then 2nd constituency from 1988 to 2002): 1973–1981 (Became minister in 1981) / 1986–1988 (Became minister in 1988) / 1991–1997 (Became minister in 1997) / 2000–2002. Elected in 1973, reelected in 1978, 1981, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1997, 2000. ''Senate of France'' Senator of Territoire de Belfort: Since 2008. ''Regional Council'' President of the Regional Council of

Franche-Comté Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou dialect, Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; ; also ; ; all ) is a cultural and Provinces of France, historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of France, departments of Doub ...

: 1981–1982. Regional councillor of

: 1974–1988 (Resignation). Elected in 1986. ''Municipal Council''

: 1983–1997 (Resignation) / 2001–2007 (Resignation). Reelected in 1989, 1995, 2001. 1st deputy-mayor of

: 1977–1983 / 1997–2001. Reelected in 1997. Municipal councillor of

: 1977–2008. Reelected in 1983, 1989, 1995, 2001. ''Agglomeration community Council'' President of the Agglomeration community of Belfort: 1977–2008. Reelected in 1983, 1989, 1995, 2001. Member of the Agglomeration community of Belfort: 1977–2008. Reelected in 1983, 1989, 1995, 2001. Political functions President of the Citizen and Republican Movement: Since 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chevenement, Jean-Pierre 1939 births Living people Politicians from Belfort French people of Swiss descent French Section of the Workers' International politicians Socialist Party (France) politicians Citizen and Republican Movement politicians Ministers of national education of France Ministers of defence of France French interior ministers Deputies of the 5th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 6th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 7th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 8th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 9th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 10th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 11th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Members of Parliament for Territoire de Belfort French senators of the Fifth Republic Senators of Territoire de Belfort Mayors of places in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Candidates in the 2002 French presidential election Sciences Po alumni École nationale d'administration alumni