View source for Democratic and Republican Left group

{{Short description|Parliamentary group in France}}
{{Infobox parliamentary group
 | name = Democratic and Republican Left group
 | native_name = Groupe de la Gauche démocrate et républicaine
 | logo = Logo of the Democratic and Republican Left group.svg
 | size = 250px
 | color = #E91B3C
 | caption = 
 | chamber = [[National Assembly (France)|National Assembly]]
 | legislature = [[13th legislature of the French Fifth Republic|13th]], [[14th legislature of the French Fifth Republic|14th]] and [[15th legislature of the French Fifth Republic|15th]] ([[French Fifth Republic|Fifth Republic]])
 | foundation = 26 June 2007
 | dissolution = 
 | previous name = 
 | parties = [[French Communist Party|PCF]]<br />[[Martinican Independence Movement|MIM]]<br />[[Guianese Socialist Party|PSG]]<br />[[Tavini Huiraatira|Tavini]]<br />[[Péyi Guyane]]
 | president = [[André Chassaigne]]
 | constituency = [[Puy-de-Dôme's 5th constituency|Puy-de-Dôme's 5th]]
 | vice presidents = 
 | spokesperson = 
 | general secretary = 
 | treasurer = 
 | members = {{Composition bar|17|577|{{party color|French Communist Party}}}}
 | ideology = [[Socialism]]<br>[[Left-wing nationalism]]
 | website ={{URL|groupe-communiste.assemblee-nationale.fr}} 
}}

The '''Democratic and Republican Left group''' ({{langx|fr|Groupe de la Gauche démocrate et républicaine}} or '''GDR''') is a [[parliamentary group]] in the [[National Assembly (France)|National Assembly]] including representatives of the [[French Communist Party]] (PCF) as well as [[Left-wing politics|leftist]] parties with bases in [[Overseas France]].

== History ==
The electoral record of the [[French Communist Party]] (PCF) in 2007 was marked by dismal performances, first in the [[2007 French presidential election|presidential election]] in which the party's national secretary [[Marie-George Buffet]] stood as a candidate supported by the PCF within the framework of an anti-liberal alliance; she was routed in the first round, receiving just 1.93% of the overall vote, a result deemed "catastrophic" for the party.<ref>{{cite news|title=Les communistes se penchent sur leurs échecs électoraux|url=http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2007/06/22/les-communistes-se-penchent-sur-leurs-echecs-electoraux_926874_3224.html|agency=Agence France-Presse|newspaper=Le Monde|date=22 June 2007|access-date=26 June 2007}}</ref> The party's result in the subsequent [[2007 French legislative election|legislative elections]] was similarly middling: though it outpaced the projections of pollsters, which placed it between only 5 and 15 seats,<ref>{{cite news|title=Le Parti communiste pourrait conserver son groupe à l'Assemblée|url=http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2007/06/18/le-parti-communiste-pourrait-conserver-son-groupe-a-l-assemblee_924621_3224.html|newspaper=Le Monde|date=18 June 2007|access-date=26 June 2017}}</ref> it still fell short of the threshold of 20 deputies, then required for the formation of a [[parliamentary group]] in the [[National Assembly (France)|National Assembly]]. As a result, [[Alain Bocquet]], outgoing leader of the preceding [[communist group (National Assembly)|communist group]] in the assembly, demanded on 18 June that the requirement for the number of deputies to form a political group be lowered to 15 from 20 then needed, with a total of 15 deputies elected under the PCF label in the legislative elections (not counting PCF dissident [[Maxime Gremetz]] or PCF associate deputies [[Jean-Pierre Brard]] and [[Jacques Desallangre]]).<ref name="Bocquet">{{cite news|title=Alain Bocquet (PCF) appelle à la constitution d'un groupe parlementaire à partir de quinze députés|url=http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2007/06/18/alain-bocquet-pcf-appelle-a-la-constitution-d-un-groupe-parlementaire-a-partir-de-quinze-deputes_925256_3224.html|agency=Agence France-Presse|newspaper=Le Monde|date=18 June 2007|access-date=26 June 2017}}</ref> Bocquet, referring to the recent election of [[Nicolas Sarkozy]] in the presidential election, added "if the president of the Republic is a democrat, he will prove it", further arguing that "contrary to all predictions, the conditions for the constitution of a communist group in the National Assembly have been met, and their recognition is only a regulatory formality".<ref name="Bocquet"/>

During the evening of 17 June, the second round of the legislative elections, Buffet issued an appeal to form an "open" group to carry the "people's voice" in the National Assembly, singling out [[the Greens (France)|the Greens]] (VEC) as a potential target. PCF spokesperson [[Olivier Dartigolles]] speculated that the party could secure an alliance "with the non-inscrits, with the elected officials of the [[overseas France|DOM-TOM]], with the progressive elected officials of the left", believing that the other forces on the left were sufficient to constitute a parliamentary group.<ref>{{cite news|title=Le PCF confiant dans sa capacité à former un groupe à l'Assemblée|url=http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2007/06/18/le-pcf-confiant-dans-sa-capacite-a-former-un-groupe-a-l-assemblee_925190_3224.html|agency=Agence France-Presse|newspaper=Le Monde|date=18 June 2007|access-date=26 June 2017}}</ref> Recognizing the predicament of the PCF, ecologist deputy [[Noël Mamère]] proposed that evening that the four members of the Greens elected in the legislative elections join the communist deputies in order to provide the necessary support to form a political group in the National Assembly,<ref name="Bocquet"/> saying that he believed that the Green deputies accept the opening proposed by Buffet, hoping to sit along the PCF and others on the left in an "autonomous group" in the National Assembly, independent of the [[Socialist Party (France)|Socialist Party]] (PS); he later added that his invitation was also extended the [[Movement of Citizens]] of [[Jean-Pierre Chevènement]], the [[Radical Party of the Left]] (PRG), and [[miscellaneous left]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Les Verts gagnent un quatrième député, M. Mamère veut former un groupe avec le PCF|url=http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2007/06/18/les-verts-gagnent-un-quatrieme-depute-m-mamere-veut-former-un-groupe-avec-le-pcf_924602_3224.html|agency=Agence France-Presse|newspaper=Le Monde|date=18 June 2007|access-date=26 June 2017}}</ref> Bocuqet on 18 June indicated that "the group was open to the world" but did not signify that it would accept the support of the Greens in order to establish a group.<ref name="Bocquet"/>

Despite this initial outreach to the Greens, however, Buffet's initiative to form a common group with the Greens was ultimately rebuffed, ending the possibility of a "communist, republican and ecologist" group as envisaged by Mamère. Discussions between Mamère, PCF deputy [[Patrick Braouezec]], and miscellaneous left deputies including [[Gérard Charasse]] were briefly initiated with the apparent support of the leadership of the PCF, which sought to strengthen its position in the assembly and diminish troublemakers within it ranks; however, these ultimately came to no avail, with Bocquet believing that an alliance with the Greens would be unfeasible during the debates of the [[Grenelle de l'environnement]] and legislation proposed as a result. Maxime Gremetz, ousted from the communist federation in the [[Somme (department)|Somme]] and antagonistic towards the national party, made conditional his membership of a parliamentary group contingent on his demand that he and the other communists in the Somme excluded from the departmental federation be permitted to rejoin. With 18 total communist deputies, it was therefore necessary to seek two additional deputies for the formation of the group.<ref>{{cite news|author=Sylvia Zappi|title=Les députés communistes n'envisagent plus de siéger avec les Verts|url=http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2007/06/19/les-deputes-communistes-n-envisagent-plus-de-sieger-avec-les-verts_925478_3224.html|newspaper=Le Monde|date=19 June 2007|access-date=26 June 2017}}</ref>

Unable to pass the threshold of 20 deputies on their own, however, the communists – Bocquet in particular – were eventually forced to reopen the door to the Greens and PRG, with Mamère proposing a "radical, communist, and green" group. Though the PCF continued to petition for a lowering of the bar for a parliamentary group from 20 to 15 deputies, the necessary change of regulation required the assent of a majority of the National Assembly, then controlled by the [[Union for a Popular Movement]] (UMP). There being no guarantee that this would happen, Bocquet said that the communists needed to act with "pragmatism".<ref>{{cite news|agency=Sylvia Zappi|title=Les députés PCF devraient constituer un groupe avec les Verts|url=http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2007/06/26/les-deputes-pcf-devraient-constituer-un-groupe-avec-les-verts_928123_3224.html|newspaper=Le Monde|date=26 June 2007|access-date=26 June 2017}}</ref> The Democratic and Republican Left group (''groupe de la Gauche démocrate et républicaine'') was ultimately formed on 26 June with 24 deputies, [[Jean-Claude Sandrier]] becoming its first president;<ref name="AN">{{cite web|title=Les déclarations politiques des groupes, signées de leurs membres, accompagnées de la liste de ces membres et des députés apparentés, ainsi que du nom du président du groupe, ont été remises le mardi 26 juin 2007 au Secrétariat général de la Présidence|url=http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/13/qui/declarations-groupes.asp|publisher=Assemblée nationale|date=26 June 2007|access-date=26 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070629202957/http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/13/qui/declarations-groupes.asp|archive-date=2007-06-29|url-status=dead}}</ref> it included the deputies of the PCF (with the exception of [[André Gerin]], who refused to join), four Greens, and two miscellaneous left deputies: [[Alfred Marie-Jeanne]] for [[Martinique]] and [[Huguette Bello]] for [[Réunion]].<ref>{{cite news|author1=Patrick Roger|author2=Sylvia Zappi|title=Dernières tractations pour les postes à l'Assemblée|url=http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2007/06/27/dernieres-tractations-pour-les-postes-a-l-assemblee_928599_3224.html|newspaper=Le Monde|date=27 June 2007|access-date=26 June 2017}}</ref>

After leaving the PS along with [[Jean-Luc Mélenchon]] to co-found the [[Left Party (France)|Left Party]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Mélenchon et Buffet pour un "front commun" aux européennes|url=http://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2008/11/18/melenchon-et-buffet-pour-un-front-commun-aux-europeennes_1120267_823448.html|agency=Agence France-Presse|newspaper=Le Monde|date=18 November 2008|access-date=26 June 2017}}</ref> [[Marc Dolez]] left the [[Socialist, Radical, Citizen and Miscellaneous Left group]] to join the GDR group as an associate deputy before becoming a member on 27 January 2009.<ref name="modifications-2007-12">{{cite web|title=Modifications apportées à la composition de l'Assemblée nationale|url=http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/13/qui/modifications.asp|publisher=Assemblée nationale|access-date=26 June 2017}}</ref> On 11 July 2010, [[Anny Poursinoff]] of the Greens was elected in a by-election in [[Yvelines's 10th constituency]], defeating [[Jean-Frédéric Poisson]], thus becoming the 26th member of the GDR group.<ref>{{cite news|author=Jean-Baptiste Garat|title=La Verte Anny Poursinoff l'emporte à Rambouillet|url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/politique/2010/07/11/01002-20100711ARTFIG00180-la-verte-anny-poursinoff-l-emporte-a-rambouillet.php|newspaper=Le Figaro|date=11 July 2010|access-date=26 June 2017}}</ref> On 1 September 2010, the Green deputy [[Yves Cochet]] took over the presidency of the GDR group.<ref name="Cochet-1">{{cite web|title=Rapport d'activité de l'Assemblée nationale 2010|url=http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/connaissance/rapactiv2010/rapactiv2010.pdf|publisher=Assemblée nationale|access-date=26 June 2017}}</ref> Maxime Gremetz was expelled from the group on 12 April 2011 after interrupting a parliamentary meeting about the [[Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster]], and subsequently resigned from his seat on 16 May.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gremetz quitte son poste de député|url=http://www.europe1.fr/politique/gremetz-quitte-son-poste-de-depute-544367|agency=Agence France-Presse|publisher=Europe 1|date=16 May 2011|access-date=26 June 2017}}</ref> Cochet left the GDR group on 6 December after being designated as an [[Member of the European Parliament|MEP]], and was replaced by [[Roland Muzeau]]; this decision reflected the dissatisfaction of the [[Left Front (France)|Left Front]] at the decision of their ecologist partners, now known as [[Europe Ecology – The Greens]] (EELV), to present a common candidate with the PS against incumbent [[François Asensi]] in [[Seine-Saint-Denis's 11th constituency]].<ref name="Cochet-2">{{cite news|author=Emile Picy|title=Le Front de gauche va présider le groupe GDR à l'Assemblée|url=http://www.bfmtv.com/politique/le-front-de-gauche-va-presider-le-groupe-gdr-a-lassemblee-205135.html|agency=Reuters|publisher=BFM TV|date=29 November 2011|access-date=26 June 2017}}</ref> The four ecologist deputies subsequently left the GDR group, Cochet departing on 6 December to take his seat as an MEP and the three others quitting on 7 December. [[Jacques Desallangre]] left the group on 17 February 2012.<ref name="modifications-2007-12"/>

Following the [[2012 French legislative election|2012 legislative elections]], [[André Chassaigne]] was designated by the 10 deputies of the Left Front to form a parliamentary group, with only 15 deputies now required to form a parliamentary group, again raising the possibility of seeking support from "progressive" deputies representing Réunion, Martinique, and [[Guadeloupe]].<ref name="Chassaigne">{{cite news|author=Arthur Nazaret|title=Front de Gauche : Chassaigne président d'un groupe qui reste à former|url=http://www.lejdd.fr/Politique/Actualite/Front-de-Gauche-Chassaigne-president-d-un-groupe-qui-reste-a-former-520759|newspaper=Le Journal du Dimanche|date=19 June 2012|access-date=19 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170928005519/http://www.lejdd.fr/Politique/Actualite/Front-de-Gauche-Chassaigne-president-d-un-groupe-qui-reste-a-former-520759|archive-date=28 September 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> With the support of two such deputies already confirmed, as previous members of the group, the support of two newly elected deputies in Martinique, [[Jean-Philippe Nilor]] and [[Bruno Nestor Azerot]], was sought out. The search for the fifteenth deputy proved difficult; though [[Ary Chalus]] of Guadeloupe, another newly minted deputy, was expected to join the group, the situation was complicated by Chalus's statement on 21 June that he would associate with the Socialist group. The continued existence of the group was finally assured with the confirmation that [[Gabriel Serville]] of the [[Guianese Socialist Party]] (PSG) would sit with the GDR in the assembly,<ref>{{cite news|author=Patrick Roger|title=Le Front de gauche réussit à constituer un groupe à l'Assemblée|url=http://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2012/06/25/le-front-de-gauche-reussit-a-constituer-un-groupe-a-l-assemblee_1724351_823448.html|newspaper=Le Monde|date=25 June 2012|access-date=26 June 2017}}</ref> the group now reduced to 15 deputies.<ref name="declarations-2012">{{cite web|title=Les déclarations politiques des groupes, signées de leurs membres, accompagnées de la liste de ces membres et des députés apparentés, ainsi que du nom du président du groupe, ont été remises le mardi 26 juin 2012 au Secrétariat général de la Présidence|url=http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/14/qui/declarations-groupes.asp|publisher=Assemblée nationale|date=26 June 2012|access-date=28 June 2017}}</ref>

In the [[2017 French legislative election|2017 legislative elections]], the PCF and [[la France Insoumise]], the movement founded by Jean-Luc Mélenchon prior to the [[2017 French presidential election|presidential election]], failed to establish an alliance to run common candidates in the legislative elections.<ref>{{cite news|author=Rachid Laïreche|title=Législatives : pas d'accord entre la France insoumise et le PCF|url=http://www.liberation.fr/france/2017/05/09/legislatives-pas-d-accord-entre-la-france-insoumise-et-le-pcf_1568389|newspaper=Libération|date=9 May 2017|access-date=26 June 2017}}</ref> Both subsequently decided to form separate parliamentary groups; Chassaigne declared that the GDR would continue on 21 June, including 11 of its own deputies and 4 from overseas France, but would not oppose the initiatives of the [[la France Insoumise group]]. Mélenchon's insistence on voting discipline respecting his movement's program proved an obstacle in any potential alliance between the two.<ref>{{cite news|title=Les communistes ne s'allient pas à La France insoumise à l'Assemblée nationale|url=http://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2017/06/21/les-communistes-ne-s-allient-pas-a-la-france-insoumise-a-l-assemblee-nationale_5148873_823448.html|agency=Agence France-Presse|newspaper=Le Monde|date=21 June 2017|access-date=26 June 2017}}</ref> At the time of its formation on 27 June, the parliamentary group included 16 deputies.<ref name="deputies-2017">{{cite web|title=Groupe de la Gauche démocrate et républicaine|url=http://www2.assemblee-nationale.fr/15/les-groupes-politiques/groupe-de-la-gauche-democrate-et-republicaine/(block)/42318|publisher=Assemblée nationale|access-date=28 June 2017}}</ref>

[[Pour La Réunion (political party)|Pour La Réunion]] [[Member of Parliament (France)|MP]] [[Karine Lebon]] sits in the group.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Actrice, militante féministe, et maintenant députée : Qui est Karine Lebon ?|url=https://www.linfo.re/la-reunion/politique/actrice-militante-feministe-et-maintenant-deputee-qui-est-karine-lebon|access-date=2021-12-11|website=Linfo.re}}</ref>

== List of presidents ==
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"
! Name
! Term start
! Term end
! Notes
|-
| [[Jean-Claude Sandrier]]
| 26 June 2007
| 1 September 2010
| <ref name="AN"/><ref name="Cochet-1"/>
|-
| [[Yves Cochet]]
| 1 September 2010
| 29 November 2011
| <ref name="Cochet-1"/><ref name="Cochet-2"/>
|-
| [[Roland Muzeau]]
| 29 November 2011
| 19 June 2012
| <ref name="Cochet-2"/><ref>{{cite web|title=Statistiques de l'activité parlementaire à l'Assemblée nationale : XIII<sup>e</sup> législature|url=http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/13/seance/statistiques-13leg.asp|publisher=Assemblée nationale|access-date=26 June 2017}}</ref>
|-
| [[André Chassaigne]]
| 19 June 2012
| ''present''
| <ref name="Chassaigne"/>
|}

== Historical membership ==
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;"
! Year
! Seats
! Change
! Notes
|-
| [[2007 French legislative election|2007]]
| {{composition bar compact|24|577|{{party color|French Communist Party}}}}
| {{steady}}
| <ref name="AN"/>
|-
| [[2012 French legislative election|2012]]
| {{composition bar compact|15|577|{{party color|French Communist Party}}}}
| {{decrease}}9
| <ref name="declarations-2012"/>
|-
| [[2017 French legislative election|2017]]
| {{composition bar compact|16|577|{{party color|French Communist Party}}}}
| {{increase}}1
| <ref name="deputies-2017"/>
|-
| [[2022 French legislative election|2022]]
| {{composition bar compact|22|577|{{party color|French Communist Party}}}}
| {{increase}}6
| 
|-
|[[2024 French legislative election|2024]]
|{{composition bar compact|17|577|{{party color|French Communist Party}}}}
|{{decrease}}5
|
|}

== See also ==
{{Portal|France}}
*[[Communist, Republican, Citizen and Ecologist group]]
*

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
* [http://www2.assemblee-nationale.fr/static/tribun/trombinoscope/trombinoscope_complet.pdf Notices and portraits of deputies] {{in lang|fr}}
* [http://www2.assemblee-nationale.fr/deputes2/modifications-a-la-composition-des-groupes Changes in the composition of groups] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170625072805/http://www2.assemblee-nationale.fr/deputes2/modifications-a-la-composition-des-groupes |date=2017-06-25 }} {{in lang|fr}}
{{Political groups of the 15th legislature of the National Assembly of France}}
{{French Communist Party}}

[[Category:National Assembly (France)]]
[[Category:Parliamentary groups in France]]
[[Category:French Communist Party]]