Reconquête

Reconquête ([ʁəkɔ̃kɛt]; English: Reconquest), styled as Reconquête! (R!), is a nationalist political party in France founded in late 2021 by Éric Zemmour, who has since served as its leader. He was a far-right candidate in the 2022 presidential election, in which he placed fourth with just over 7% of the vote as the best newcomer.[13]

For other uses, see Reconquista (disambiguation).
Reconquest
Reconquête
LeaderÉric Zemmour
Vice ChairmenGuillaume Peltier
Marion Maréchal
Nicolas Bay
FounderÉric Zemmour
Founded5 December 2021 (2021-12-05)
Youth wingGénération Z
Membership (June 2022)127,000 (claimed)[1][2][3]
Ideology
Political positionFar-right[12]
Colours
  •   Blue
  •   Red
National Assembly
0 / 577
Senate
2 / 348
European Parliament (French seats)
1 / 79
Regional councillors
15 / 1,758
Departmental councillors
9 / 4,108
Website
www.parti-reconquete.fr

History

Background

From September 2021, opinion polling for the 2022 presidential election showed a sharp rise in favour of far-right[13] journalist and author Éric Zemmour in the months before he officialised his candidacy. A series of polls suggested that he might reach the presidential election's second round, competing against incumbent President Emmanuel Macron.[14][15] Although there had been speculation about a possible run for the presidential nomination of The Republicans in the party's 2021 congress, Zemmour opted to put his name forward as a new party nominee.[16]

Launch

Éric Zemmour formally announced his candidacy for the presidency on 30 November 2021 through a video posted on YouTube.[17][18] It was seen by over 2.6 million viewers in three days.[19]

Reconquête was launched on 5 December 2021;[20] at the founding rally held in Villepinte, Seine-Saint-Denis, Zemmour proposed a "reconquest of the greatest country in the world" in front of 15,000 people.[21][22] Zemmour and Reconquête's campaign directors for the upcoming elections were announced as Court of Audit magistrate Sarah Knafo and former French Army major general Bertrand de La Chesnais.[23][24] Reconquête's youth wing, Génération Z, which had been established to mobilise the youth around a possible presidential candidacy of Zemmour, entered the party structure ex post.[25][26]

In December 2021, Joachim Son-Forget, elected to the National Assembly in 2017 for French residents overseas as a La République En Marche! candidate, was the first MP to support Zemmour.[27][28] Former presidential candidate Philippe de Villiers also announced his support for Zemmour and the party.[29] Zemmour made claims to the media of 40,000 members within days,[30] 60,000 a few days later.[31] In February 2022, Reconquête officially welcomed its 100,000th member.[32]

In January 2022, the party gained its second member of the National Assembly in Guillaume Peltier, previously elected as a member of The Republicans,[33] as well as two Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) when Jérôme Rivière and Gilbert Collard defected from the National Rally. Rivière had presided over the French delegation to the Identity and Democracy group in the European Parliament until he joined Reconquête.[34][35] In early February 2022, the party gained a third MEP when Maxette Grisoni-Pirbakas defected from the National Rally, while MEP Nicolas Bay joined in mid-February.[36][37] Stéphane Ravier became the party's first Senator after he left the National Rally in mid-February 2022, whilst Sébastien Meurant became the second Senator in March 2022.[38][39] In May 2022 Myriane Houplain became the partys second MP.[40]

Other notable people who have been involved around Zemmour's candidacy include former MPs Marion Maréchal,[41] Christine Boutin,[42] Nicolas Dhuicq,[43] Jean-Frédéric Poisson[44] and Jacques Bompard,[45] as well as former MEPs Jean-Yves Le Gallou,[46] Paul-Marie Coûteaux[47] and Bruno Mégret.[48]

Online controversy

In February 2022, a reporter embedded into the Zemmour campaign's online division discovered and reported on a covert online campaign targeting Facebook and Wikipedia. A "shadow army" was delegated to join a huge number of Facebook groups and post pro-Zemmour content to raise the candidate's profile as much as possible. Another group of the shadow online team is a task force called "WikiZedia" which is tasked with editing pages on Wikipedia, in particular the French article about Zemmour, which is the top viewed article on French Wikipedia. "WikiZedia" members are charged with promoting Zemmour's page and linking to it as much as possible at the online encyclopedia.[49][50] A veteran editor of French Wikipedia who was one of its top contributors was identified as being part of the Zemmour shadow team, described as being "in charge of the Zemmour page on Wikipedia" and was blocked from editing by Wikipedia administrators,[51][52] along with six other editors.[53][50] As soon as they learned of the affair, Wikimedia France immediately alerted the French media online watchdog agency ARCOM, which tracks online piracy and manipulation of digital communications.[51]

Leadership
Éric Zemmour

Reconquête is led by Éric Zemmour from Paris, the party's founder and candidate in the 2022 presidential election. He is assisted by three vice-presidents; Guillaume Peltier, Marion Maréchal, and Nicolas Bay.[54]

Ideology
See also: Éric Zemmour § Positions
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Reconquête vows to bolster the French economy in line with what some observers have called a Colbertist approach,[55] as well as avoid what it calls the "Great Replacement" of the French people.[56] Its main campaign themes are identity, education, taxes, industry and independence.[57] It advocates for a reduction in immigration numbers, de-Islamisation, security through new deportation legislation, an improvement in public instruction levels with a revision of the collège system, lower taxes for the least prosperous French people, as well as higher economic competitivity.[58] Speaking at the founding rally, Zemmour promised to "slash immigration to almost zero", to deport people who unsuccessfully sought asylum and illegal immigrants, as well as to remove France from NATO's integrated command.[22][59]

In terms of economic policy, Reconquête seeks to implement a "country-score" (French: Patrie-score) which would clearly indicate to the consumer whether a product is French or not.[60]

In foreign policy, the party seeks to strengthen French fiscal and political autonomy against the European Union (EU).[61] Zemmour has expressed support for Brexit and the UK's vote to leave the EU, but argued that France's situation was different and that he would not seek to withdraw France from the EU. Instead, he has summed up his position as "I want France to be in Europe, but I want France to come first before Europe" and pledged to veto any further EU expansion plans. He has also stated the platform will include withdrawing France from EU immigration and asylum policies, ensuring the French tricolour is always displayed above the EU flag, putting French law above EU law and halting accession talks with Eastern European nations looking to join.[62][63] Reconquête is also opposed to the accession of Turkey to the European Union.[61]

Islam

The party supports banning the Islamic veil in all public places.[64]

Reconquête seeks to ban the Muslim Brotherhood and linked organisations. The party also wants to place a ban on structures that seek to promote Jihad. It would like to put into practice a tighter control of imams and Islamic preachers in mosques and other Islamic sites in France, including tighter control of external funding for these places of worship and preachers.[64]

Election results

Presidential
Presidency of the French Republic
Election year Candidate First round Second round
Votes % Rank Votes % Rank
2022 Éric Zemmour 2,485,226 7.07 4th —

National Assembly
National Assembly
Election year Leader First round Second round Seats +/− Rank
(seats)		 Government
Votes % Votes %
2022 Éric Zemmour 964,868 4.24% —
0 / 577
 0[65]

Notable members

References
  1. Magal, Marylou (11 February 2022). ""Ils forment une communauté" : Zemmour peut-il dépasser un électorat "groupusculaire" ?". L'Express (in French). Archived from the original on 11 February 2022. Retrieved 11 February 2022. À l'aube de la recomposition, la création d'une structure, qui revendique aujourd'hui plus de 100 000 adhérents, en fait rêver plus d'un.
  2. Duvert, Yann (9 February 2022). "Présidentielle : Eric Zemmour retrouve de l'élan". Les Échos. Archived from the original on 9 February 2022. Retrieved 11 February 2022. Reconquête, son parti créé il y a à peine deux mois, continue en parallèle de faire le plein, et a franchi mardi la barre des 100.000 adhérents.
  3. "Reconquête". parti-reconquete.fr.
  4. Vaugoude, Martin (30 November 2021). ""Eric Zemmour n'est ni bonapartiste ni gaulliste"". Le Télégramme (in French).
  5. Levenson, Claire (2 February 2022). ""National Conservatisme: l'extrême droite américaine fan d'Eric Zemmour"". Marianne (in French).
  6. Boutin, Christophe (2022-02-06). "Le Pen / Zemmour : des rubans différents mais sous l'emballage, un même populisme conservateur pour 2022" (in French). Atlantico. Retrieved 2022-06-20.
  7. "Immigration - Le programme d'Éric Zemmour" (in French). Archived from the original on 20 January 2022.
  8. "Indépendance" (in French). RECONQUÊTE!. Archived from the original on 6 December 2021. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  9. Laubacher, Paul (2022-01-19). "Le Pen et Zemmour, deux nuances d'euroscepticisme" (in French). l'Opinion. Retrieved 2022-06-20.
  10. "Europe : Le programme d'Éric Zemmour". programme.zemmour2022.fr (in French). RECONQUÊTE!. Archived from the original on 20 January 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  11. "Économie : Le programme d'Éric Zemmour". programme.zemmour2022.fr (in French). RECONQUÊTE!. Archived from the original on 2 January 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2022. Obliger la commande publique à privilégier les produits français
  12. "French far-right election candidate Zemmour wins backing of Marine Le Pen's niece". SWI swissinfo.ch.
  13. Far-right candidate:
  14. "Présidentielle: Zemmour bondit à 10% des intentions de vote". Challenges (in French). 2021-09-14. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  15. "Sondage présidentielle : Éric Zemmour, avec 15% des intentions de vote, passe devant la droite". leparisien.fr (in French). 2021-10-01. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  16. "Pas d'Eric Zemmour au Congrès des LR: «Il n'est pas dans notre famille politique»", La Voix du Nord (in French), 28 September 2021.
  17. "Éric Zemmour se déclare candidat à l'élection présidentielle de 2022". LEFIGARO (in French). 2021-11-30. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  18. "Eric Zemmour officialise sa candidature à l'élection présidentielle". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2021-11-30. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  19. "Plus de 2,6 millions de vues sur YouTube pour la vidéo de candidature d'Éric Zemmour", France Culture (in French), 3 December 2021.
  20. Galindo, Gabriela (5 December 2021). "They're off: Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Eric Zemmour launch French presidential bids". Politico. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  21. "Zemmour promises 'reconquest' at huge Paris rally". Euractiv.com. 2021-12-06. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  22. "Zemmour pledges to 'reconquer' France". EUobserver. 6 December 2021. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  23. "Le Général de la Chesnais nommé directeur de campagne d'Eric Zemmour", Europe 1 (in French), 6 December 2021.
  24. https://news.in-24.com/news/355123.html
  25. "Jeunes et fans de Zemmour : qui est la " Génération Z " ?" (in French). Elle. 21 October 2021.
  26. ""Génération Z" : à quoi pensent les jeunes avec Zemmour ?", France Culture (in French), 23 September 2021.
  27. ""Si Éric Zemmour était d'extrême droite, je ne le soutiendrais pas !" affirme Joachim Son-Forget", Sud Radio (in French), 3 December 2021.
  28. "Joachim Son-Forget prépare-t-il son retour à la maison", JHM.fr (un French), 9 February 2022.
  29. "Philippe de Villiers, premier soutien de poids pour Eric Zemmour", Le Progrès (in French), 11 December 2021.
  30. and "Éric Zemmour revendique 40 000 adhérents au sein de son parti Reconquête", BFM TV (in French), 9 December 2021.
  31. "Éric Zemmour revendique 75 000 adhérents pour son parti, Édouard Philippe entretient le mystère", Marianne (in French), 15 December 2021.
  32. "Présidentielle : Zemmour atteint les 100.000 adhérents avec son parti Reconquête", Europe 1 (in French), 14 February 2022.
  33. "Présidentielle : le député LR Guillaume Peltier annonce rejoindre Eric Zemmour". Europe 1 (in French). 9 January 2022. Retrieved 2022-01-09.
  34. "Two Le Pen allies defect to join Zemmour's presidential bid". Reuters.com. 20 January 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  35. "Gilbert Collard quitte le RN et rejoint Éric Zemmour". Lefigaro.fr. 21 January 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  36. "Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
  37. Caulcutt, Clea (16 February 2022). "Far-right National Rally suspends MEP Nicolas Bay from party roles". Politico. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  38. Sapin, Charles (15 March 2022). "Présidentielle : le sénateur LR Sébastien Meurant apporte son soutien à Éric Zemmour". Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  39. "Stéphane Ravier, sénateur RN, annonce son ralliement à Eric Zemmour". Le Monde.fr (in French). 2022-02-13. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  40. "Législatives : la situation se décante à l'extrême droite dans la 10e circonscription du Pas-de-Calais". La Voix du Nord (in French). 2022-05-08. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
  41. "Le Pen's niece joins forces with far-right rival Zemmour". France 24. 6 March 2022. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  42. "Christine Boutin: "J'ai une grande joie de pouvoir soutenir" Eric Zemmour", BFM TV (in French), 6 December 2021.
  43. "INFORMATION EUROPE 1 - Nicolas Dhuicq rejoint Éric Zemmour". Europe 1 (in French). 20 February 2022. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  44. "Présidentielle : Jean-Frédéric Poisson en émissaire de Zemmour à Libourne", Sud Ouest (in French), 10 February 2022.
  45. "Présidentielle 2022 : conseillers, financiers, soutiens... Qui sont les membres de la galaxie Zemmour ?", francetvinfo.fr (in French), 4 December 2021.
  46. "Derrière Eric Zemmour, les cinquante lieutenants d'une campagne d'extrême droite, Le Monde (in French), 12 December 2021.
  47. Tésorière, Ronan (6 December 2021). "Meeting d'Éric Zemmour : Qui sont les personnalités et soutiens politiques présents dimanche ?". Le Parisien (in French). Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  48. "Presidential: Bruno Mégret supports Eric Zemmour", newsrnd.com, 29 January 2022.
  49. Henley, Jon (17 February 2022). "French reporter infiltrates campaign of far-right presidential candidate Éric Zemmour". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  50. Asmoun, Faouzi (18 February 2022). "Présidentielle 2022 : Éric Zemmour épinglé pour avoir manipulé Wikipédia" [2022 presidential elections: Éric Zemmour spotlighted for manipulating Wikipedia]. LaDepeche.fr (in French). Retrieved 21 February 2022. L'association Wikimédia France vient d'annoncer l'ouverture d'une enquête approfondie à la suite de la tentative de manipulation de l'information sur le Wikipédia francophone par l'équipe d'Éric Zemmour. ... La communauté des rédacteurs de Wikipédia a d'ores et déjà banni sept comptes. [The Wikimedia France Association has just announced the opening of an in-depth investigation following the attempt by Éric Zemmour's team to manipulate information on French Wikipedia. ... The editing community has already banned seven accounts.]
  51. Pixels (21 February 2022). "Page Wikipédia d'Eric Zemmour : l'encyclopédie en ligne répond aux " tentatives de manipulation "" [The online encyclopedia responds to "attempts at manipulation"]. Le Monde. Retrieved 22 February 2022. L'association Wikimedia France a également alerté l'Autorité de régulation de la communication audiovisuelle (Arcom, ex-CSA) par courriel. [The Wikimedia France association also alerted the Audiovisual Communication Regulation Authority (ARCOM, ex-CSA) by email.]
  52. Grably, Raphaël; AFP (17 February 2022). "'Wikizedia': comment l'équipe d'Eric Zemmour a utilisé wikipédia pour promouvoir le candidat" ['WikiZedia': how Eric Zemmour's team used Wikipedia to promote the candidate]. BFM TV (in French). NextInteractive. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  53. Turcan, Marie (18 February 2022). "Wikipédia bannit 7 contributeurs qui trompaient l'encyclopédie pour favoriser Éric Zemmour" [Wikipedia bans 7 contributors who cheated the encyclopedia to favor Éric Zemmour]. Numerama (in French). Retrieved 21 February 2022. Ils étaient plus de cinquante bénévoles, le 17 février 2022, à se prononcer en faveur d'un bannissement de sept contributeurs de Wikipédia qui modifiaient l'encyclopédie en ligne pour favoriser Éric Zemmour. [On February 17, 2022, more than fifty volunteers voted in favor of banning seven Wikipedia contributors who were editing the online encyclopedia to favor Éric Zemmour.]
  54. "Éric Zemmour fait son grand retour avec sa rentrée politique en Provence". 11 September 2022.
  55. "Quelle place pour l'économie dans le programme d'Eric Zemmour ?", Europe 1 (in French), 2 December 2021.
  56. "Présidentielle : comment Éric Zemmour entend miser sur la proximité", Europe 1 (in French), 19 December 2021.
  57. "Priorités". Éric Zemmour 2022 (in French). Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  58. "Economie". Éric Zemmour 2022 (in French). Retrieved 2021-12-31.
  59. "Far-right French presidential candidate put in headlock by protester at rally". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  60. "Économie : Le programme d'Éric Zemmour". programme.zemmour2022.fr (in French). RECONQUÊTE!. Archived from the original on 2 January 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2022. Mettre en place un Patrie-score pour indiquer clairement au consommateur la procenance française d'un produit
  61. "Europe". Programme.zemmour2022.fr. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  62. Calais, Adam Sage. "France lacks the bottle for Brexit, says Éric Zemmour". Thetimes.co.uk. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  63. Napolitano, Ardee (20 January 2022). "France first: Far-right challenger tears into Macron's European vision". Reuters.com. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  64. "Islam". programme.zemmour2022.fr (in French). RECONQUÊTE!. Archived from the original on 25 January 2022. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  65. "French legislative elections: Eric Zemmour's camp rebuffed". Le Monde.fr. 2022-06-13. Retrieved 2022-08-02.
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