Alsace First
Alsace First (Alemannic German: Elsass Zuerst, EZ; French: Alsace d'abord, ADA), formerly the Alsatian Regionalist Movement (French: Mouvement régionaliste alsacien) from 1998 to 2002, is a political party based in Alsace, France, established in 1989. It promotes autonomy for Alsace in France.
Alsace First Elsass Zuerst Alsace d'abord | |
|---|---|
 | |
| President | Jacques Cordonnier |
| Founded | 1989 |
| Split from | National Rally |
| Headquarters | Strasbourg, Alsace, France |
| Ideology | Regionalism Alsatian autonomism National conservatism Identitarianism |
| Political position | Far-right |
| Colours | Red, white Brown (customary) |
| National Assembly | 0 / 577 |
| Senate | 0 / 348 |
| European Parliament | 0 / 74 |
| Website | |
| www.alsacedabord.org | |
The party is considered far-right by many observers due to its strong stance against immigration, its opposition to Turkish entry into the European Union and its affirmation of an Alsatian national identity. The party is opposed to French centralizing Jacobin attitudes and favours decentralization, fiscal and political autonomy for Alsace, and bilingualism in the region (Alsatian and French). It is often compared to the stronger Lega Nord in Italy.
In the 2004 French regional elections, the party won 9.42% of the vote but failed to win seats. It had 9 seats in the Alsace regional council from 1998 to 2004 due to an electoral system more favourable to smaller parties than the current system, adopted in 2003. The party has one seat in the Haut-Rhin general council, held by Christian Chaton in the canton of Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines.
The leader of ADA is Jacques Cordonnier, who replaced Robert Spieler in 2008. Spieler had been a National Front deputy in the French National Assembly between 1986 and 1988.