The Rally (New Caledonia)

The Rally Le Rassemblement
Leader	Thierry Santa
General Secretary	Didier-Jean Leroux
Vice Presidents	Lionel Paagalua Martin Hamu Virginie Ruffenach Laura Vendégou
Founded	1977 1977 (RPC) 1978 (RPCR) 2004 (Rally-UMP) 2014 (The Rally)
Headquarters	13, Rue Sébastopol - Centre Ville - 98800 Nouméa
Ideology	Anti-separatism Gaullism Conservatism Liberal conservatism Christian democracy
Political position	Centre-right to right-wing
European affiliation	European People's Party
International affiliation	Centrist Democrat International
Colours	Red, blue
Seats in the Congress	6 / 54
Seats in the South Province	5 / 40
Seats in the North Province	2 / 40
Website
www.rassemblement.nc
Politics of New Caledonia Political parties Elections

The Rally (

History

In 1977, which saw the start of an outright nationalist movement on the left, anti-nationalist (loyalist)

However, the RPCR started massively cracking ahead of the 2004 elections. In 2004, a group of RPCR dissidents who opposed Lafleur's authoritarian leadership formed the Future Together party. The new party included Marie-Noëlle Thémereau, who had left the RPCR in 2001 and supported Lionel Jospin in the 2002 French presidential election; Harold Martin, Lafleur's heir apparent but excluded in 2003 for running a dissident list in the 2001 local elections; and Philippe Gomès, a friend of Martin.

In the 2004 election, the RPCR received its worst result to date, obtaining 24.43% and only 16 Congressmen. Future Together won 22.69% and 16 seats, but it won more votes than the RPCR in the loyalist stronghold of South Province. Gomès became Provincial President, and Harold Martin became President of the Government of New Caledonia.

In 2005, Lafleur announced his intentions to step down in favour of Pierre Frogier, who represented New Caledonia's 2nd constituency and was a close supporter of the President of the UMP in France, soon-to-be-President Nicolas Sarkozy. Frogier was seen as Lafleur's chosen successor. However, he reneged on this decision and ran against Frogier for the RPCR leadership at the party congress. Frogier defeated Lafleur by a large margin, and Lafleur left the RPCR to form the Rally for Caledonia (RPC).

Despite its decline, the RPCR held both of New Caledonia's seats in the

In the 2009 election, the RPCR obtained a lower result than in 2004, despite the division in Future Together. The RPCR obtained only 20.3% and a mere 13 Congressmen. However, the RPCR regained its status as largest party in New Caledonia and achieved first place in the South Province.

References