Republican Front (French Fifth Republic)
[6][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] The related strategy known as the "sanitary cordon" or the "republican dam"[21][22][23] involves excluding far-right parties from majorities in local, regional, and national governments and refraining from encouraging voters to transfer their votes to the FN, according to the definition provided by Jean-Yves Camus.
"[30] Many observers trace its origins back to the Republican Front of 1956, a center-left electoral coalition formed in France for the January 1956 legislative elections to counter the Poujadist movement and resolve the Algerian War.
He argues, however, that these fears are unwarranted: "Even among the early leaders of the Popular Front, a movement presented as exemplary, awareness, willingness, and capacity to mobilize against the fascist threat were neither complete nor entirely clear-headed.
This alliance, broadly supported on the right, was publicly endorsed by Jacques Chirac, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, Alain Juppé, Michel Poniatowski, Jean-Claude Gaudin, Bernard Pons, and Claude Labbé [fr].
"[35] Journalist Patrick Roger of Le Monde notes that Michel Rocard was the first "left-wing political leader under the Fifth Republic" to propose, during the 1985 cantonal elections, "the principle of a 'democratic pact,' calling for a transcendence of traditional divisions.
"[39] Joël Gombin highlights "numerous indications" that "suggest the Socialist Party (PS) hoped to benefit from the resurgence of the far-right" during this period and sought to "favor [the FN], albeit less overtly."
Academic Pierre Ecuvillon views this as "both a symbolic passing of the torch from the moral prohibition imposed by SOS Racisme to a political interdiction that would quickly become a norm, and a circumstantial reaction partly motivated by Jean-Marie Le Pen's misstep" regarding his remarks on "AIDS victims."
"[46] Although refusing to give a vote of confidence to Jacques Chirac's government, Jean-Marie Le Pen positioned himself within an "anti-Marxist, anti-socialist majority" and expressed willingness to support individual legislative proposals.
Pascal Perrineau notes that "Jacques Chirac, after adopting some ambiguous positions in the mid-1980s, gradually came to view the National Rally as a threat to the Republic, its values of liberty, equality, and fraternity, and, beyond that, as endangering France's integration into Europe and the world.
After his removal, “RPR and UDF ‘Millonists’ and ‘anti-Millonists’ tore each other apart, constantly changing positions and alliances—one of the few consistently right-wing politicians during this time was François Bayrou, who called for a republican front.”[64] Édouard Balladur had also considered a “pact” with the FN during these elections.
[9] In the 2007 legislative elections, a republican front formed in the 14th constituency of Pas-de-Calais (which includes the canton of Hénin-Beaumont): among the eliminated parties, only the Movement for France did not call for a vote for Marine Le Pen’s socialist opponent; she also received support from Paul-Marie Coûteaux.
[66] In the 2011 cantonal elections, Nicolas Sarkozy, President of the Republic, and Jean-François Copé, Secretary General of the UMP, imposed the rule of "neither FN nor PS in the second round," commonly abbreviated as "ni-ni"—Copé had supported this directive since 1999.
[74][75] According to academic Jean-Yves Heurtebise, this strategy "is politically the best: neither the UMP nor the FN has an interest in creating a union of the right," as evidenced by the decline of the PCF since the Common Program and the experience of plural left-wing governance for the PS.
[79][80] The New Anti-Capitalist Party, for its part, calls on its voters to support "the left-wing candidate when they are still in the race against the National Rally" in the second round of the 2011 cantonal elections but opposes the idea of a republican front, which would imply voting UMP against the FN.
[84] In June 2013, during the by-election in the third constituency of Lot-et-Garonne [fr], the strong increase in the FN candidate’s votes between the two rounds led Marine Le Pen to declare that "the so-called 'republican front' is dead.
[124] Some analysts explained Manuel Valls' position as his desire to be as combative as possible against the FN, to adapt to the new tripartite political configuration, and to eventually create a "common house" of progressives, ranging from socialists to moderate right-wingers.
"[140] While most political figures from both the right and the left call to block the far-right party, several, for different reasons, refuse the "republican front," both on the right (Nadine Morano, Henri Guaino, Éric Ciotti, Georges Fenech,[143] Guillaume Larrivé,[144] Christine Boutin, Jean-Frederic Poisson, Sens commun [fr], La Manif pour tous,[145] the CNIP)[146] and on the radical left and far-left (Nathalie Arthaud, Philippe Poutou,[147][148] Charlotte Girard, co-responsible for Jean-Luc Mélenchon's program, while he refuses to make a clear distinction between the two finalists, stating that one should not vote for the FN).
"[157] In view of the 2017 legislative elections, François Baroin, leader of LR, advocates "mutual withdrawal" with La République en Marche (LREM) and Socialist Party candidates in constituencies where the FN could win, thus breaking with the "ni-ni" policy on the right until then.
[159] According to Le Huffington Post, François Baroin aims to "avoid giving the left wing of LR a pretext to break definitively," as it campaigns on the promise to vote confidence in the Édouard Philippe government.
[187] Macron’s approach broadened the scope of the republican front to include opposition on the left,[188] even as many left-wing figures had previously called for voters to support him against Marine Le Pen.
[189] This refusal to call for a republican front against RN candidates drew particular criticism, as Macron’s outgoing majority had only weeks earlier appealed to Jean-Luc Mélenchon voters to defend "common values" during the presidential election’s run-off.
"[197] Édouard Philippe, representing the Horizons party within the presidential majority, advocated for blocking the RN and LFI, stating, "No vote should go to National Rally candidates, nor those of La France Insoumise.
"[197] The interim leadership of The Republicans (LR) declined to issue a directive to vote against the RN on July 7, declaring, "In constituencies where we are not present in the second round, we consider voters free to make their own choice and allow the French to express themselves as they see fit.
[203][204][205] In an effort to differentiate this government from Michel Barnier's earlier attempt, parties that participated in the Republican Front[206]—encouraged by socialists, ecologists, and communists but without the agreement of LFI—proposed a "non-censure" pact with the central bloc.
This agreement aimed to prevent a government led by the right, center, or left from being penalized by a motion of censure initiated by the RN or any other parliamentary group until the next presidential election in 2027 or the dissolution of the National Assembly.
"[212] Xavier Landes, a researcher in political and economic philosophy, laments that the Republican Front is "often used as a wildcard to facilitate the election of moderate candidates 'by default,' that is, without them genuinely gaining popular support.
"[215] The Republican Front is sometimes accused of validating the FN's slogan "UMPS" (a portmanteau denouncing the perceived collusion of mainstream right- and left-wing parties), which undermines distinctions between governmental right and left ideologies.
[216] Historian Nicolas Lebourg notes that in the 2014 municipal elections, Perpignan was the only city where the Socialist Party (PS) withdrew in favor of the LR (Les Républicains) to block an FN victory.
Political scientist Olivier Rouquan argues that the strategy has allowed the FN to "retain its most motivated and mobilized base of activists, adopt a scapegoat posture, and fuel conspiracy thinking—a significant element of far-right ideology—thereby gradually increasing its electorate.
"[98] However, the FN's denunciation of the Republican Front sometimes reveals contradictions: while striving to break free from symbolic exclusion in its "dedemonization" efforts, it simultaneously underscores the alleged convergence of UMP and PS values.
