Unitary Left

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Unitary Left
Gauche unitaire
Leader Christian Picquet
Founded14 March 2009 [1]
Dissolved8 September 2015 [2]
Merged into French Communist Party
Ideology Anti-capitalism [3]
Socialism [3]
Democratic socialism
Political position Left-wing to far-left
National affiliation Left Front (2009–2014)
European affiliation Party of the European Left
Colours Red
Website
www.gauche-unitaire.fr
Constitution of France
Parliament; government; president

Unitary Left [4] (Gauche unitaire, GU) was a French political party, founded in 2009, [1] that was integrated into the French Communist Party (PCF) in 2015. [2] The party was led by Christian Picquet, a former member of the Revolutionary Communist League and former leader of the association Unite. [1]

The creation of the party was announced on 8 March 2009 at the founding congress of the Left Front electoral coalition ahead of the 2009 European elections. Picquet, whose opposition faction represented 3.7% at the founding congress of the New Anticapitalist Party, disagreed with the majority's refusal to ally with the Communist-led Left Front for the European elections. [1] [5]

Other members from the same current remained in the New Anticapitalist Party, and formed the internal faction Convergences and Alternative on 17 May 2009. [6]

Picquet's small movement integrated the Left Front and Picquet was the third candidate on the coalition's list in the Île-de-France constituency.[ citation needed ]

Ideologically, the party sought to unite all democratic socialists opposed to neo-liberalism under a common front.

In the 2010 French regional elections, the GU, as part of the Left Front, had seven officials elected into office: [7]


On 29 April 2014, the GU left the Left Front, arguing the party was underrepresented as a founding member of the coalition and that the Front lacked a clear strategy or message. [8]

On 8 September 2015, the PCF and GU released a joint statement on the dissolution of the GU and its merger with the PCF. This decision was taken to limit the division of the French left. [2] [9]

Two days later, Pierre Laurent, then National Secretary of the PCF, confirmed in a press conference that GU's members would participate fully within the PCF's party structure. Four GU leaders were given permanent seats on the PCF National Council, and Picquet was given a seat on the PCF National Executive Committee. [10]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Européennes: Christian Picquet (NPA) rejoint le "front de gauche" PCF-PG". AFP via Google News (in French). 9 March 2009. Archived from the original on 13 March 2009.
  2. 1 2 3 "Communiqué de presse". PCF.fr (in French). 8 September 2015. Archived from the original on 13 March 2024. Retrieved 12 January 2026.
  3. 1 2 Nordsieck, Wolfram (2012). "France". Parties and Elections in Europe. Archived from the original on 17 June 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  4. ↑ France: The Rise of the Left Front
  5. ↑ "Européennes: "vote écrasant" du NPA contre le "front de gauche"". AFP via Google News (in French). 8 March 2009. Archived from the original on 6 July 2010.
  6. ↑ "Convergences et alternative, un courant pro-unité à gauche au sein du NPA". AFP via Google News. 18 May 2009. Archived from the original on 3 January 2013.
  7. ↑ "Des élu(e)s anticapitalistes, unitaires et indépendant(e)s". Gauche unitaire. 24 March 2010. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012.
  8. ↑ "Front de gauche : un parti membre suspend sa participation". Libération. 30 April 2014. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014.
  9. ↑ "La Gauche Unitaire rejoint le PCF | Pierre Laurent – Le blog". www.pierrelaurent.org. Archived from the original on 29 September 2015.
  10. ↑ "Le PCF et la GU confirment officiellement leur regroupement". L'Humanité (in French). 10 September 2015. Archived from the original on 13 January 2026. Retrieved 13 January 2026.
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