Rally for the Republic - Definition and Overview

The Rally for the Republic, also known by its French acronym RPR (Rassemblement pour la République), was a French political party. Originating from the UDR, it was founded by Jacques Chirac in 1976 and posed as the heir of Gaullism. On September 21, 2002, the RPR was merged into the Union for a Presidential Majority (Union pour la Majorité Présidentielle), later renamed the Union for a Popular Movement (Union pour un Mouvement Populaire).

The RPR was, by far, Jacques Chirac's movement and electoral machine.

Prior to its replacement by UMP, the RPR had been increasingly embroiled in judicial proceedings following from the corruption scandals in the Paris region. Its former secretary-general Alain Juppé was sentenced in 2004 for a related felony.

By and large, the RPR served as Chirac's electoral machine, though a sizeable portion of its members supported another RPR presidential contender, Édouard Balladur, in the election of 1995. Some Gaullists such as Charles Pasqua, a founding member of the RPR, left the party, denouncing policies that they deemed too much in favor of the power of the European Union, at odds with the Gaullist doctrine of national independence.

See also

• Politics of France