French Communist Party

The French Communist Party (French: Parti communiste français or PCF) is France's largest communist party and a member of the European Left group.

Decline

Under Mitterrand the PCF held ministerial office for the first time since 1947, but this had the effect of locking the PCF into Mitterrand's reformist agenda, and the PCF's electoral support drained away to the PS. The PCF also suffered from the rise of the National Front, whose populist slogans appealed to many PCF voters. During the 1980s the PCF vote fell sharply.

Related Topics:
1947 - National Front - Populist

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The fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 led to a crisis in the PCF, but it did not follow the example of some other European communist parties of dissolving itself or changing its name. In 1994 Marchais retired and was succeeded by Robert Hue. Under Hue the party embarked on a process called la mutation. La mutation, which included the thorough reorganization of party structure and to move away from leninist dogmas was intended to vitalize the stagnant left and to attract non-affiliated leftists to join the party, but in effect only resulted in increaseing the pace of the decline of the party. Under Lionel Jospin, the PCF again held ministerial offices from 1997 to 2002. The party became riddled with internal conflict, as many sectors opposed la mutation and policy of co-governing with the Socialists.

Related Topics:
Fall of the Soviet Union - 1991 - 1994 - Robert Hue - Lionel Jospin - 1997 - 2002

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Hue only received 3.4% of the votes in the 2002 presidential elections. At the 2002 National Assembly elections, the PCF polled 4.8% of the vote and won 21 seats (out of 567). Eventually Hue had to resign, and in 2003 Marie-George Buffet took over the leadership of the party. Under Buffet the party embarked on a process of reconstruction, reversing some of the moves done during la mutation. The victory of the 'No' in the 2005 French plebicite on the Constitution of the European Union, served as a major boost for the party. Under the referendum campaign the party was vitalized, with a resurgence of the work in the party cells.

Related Topics:
2002 - 2003 - Marie-George Buffet - 2005 - European Union

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The PCF main strongholds are in the Paris suburbs, in the industrial areas around Lille, and in some areas of the south such as Marseille.

Related Topics:
Paris - Lille - Marseille

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