Unified Socialist Party

See also the Unified Socialist Party (Burkina Faso) and the United Socialist Party.

Image:Bourchardeau PSU.jpg Unified Socialist Party (in French: Parti socialiste unifié) was a political party in France, founded on April 3 1960. From 1967 to 1973 Michel Rocard was the leader of the party.

PSU was born through the fusion of the Autonomous Socialist Party, Socialist Left Union and a the group around the jouranl Tribune du communisme. The latter was a splinter-group of the French Communist Party (PCF), which deserted PCF after the 1956 events in Hungary. The three group had an alliance since 1958.

In 1961 Pierre Mendès-France joined PSU.

In 1965, PSU supported, together with SFIO and PCF, the candidature François Mitterrand in the presidential election.

In May 1968 PSU supported the students' uprising. PSU moved away from cooperation with the Socialist Party and developed its own programme, based on autogestion (self-management).

In the 1969 presidential elections the PSU candidate Michel Rocard obtained 3.61% of the votes in the first round.

In 1974 presidential elections PSU supported the campaign of Mitterrand. There was large disatisfaction amongst party grassroot against this. However, PSU did not sign the 'Common programme of the Left'. But a sizeable section of the party militancy, led by Michel Rocard and Robert Chapuis, left to join the Socialist Party. They believed that they could better function as a leftist tendency with the Socialist Party.

In the 1981 presidential elections, PSU launched Huguette Bouchardeau. Bourchardeau obtained 1.11% of the votes in the first round.

In the 1988 presidential elections, PSU support the communist dissident candidate Pierre Juquin, who obtained 2.09% of the votes in the first round.

In 1989 PSU merged with the the New Left for Socialism, Ecology and Self-management (the movement of Juquin), and formed Red and Green Alternatives.

National Secretaries of PSU

• 1960 - 1967 : Édouard Depreux
• 1967 - 1973 : Michel Rocard
• 1973 - 1974 : Robert Chapuis
• 1974 - 1979 : Michel Mousel
• 1979 - 1981 : Huguette Bouchardeau
• 1981 - 1983 : Jacques Salvator
• 1983 - 1984 : Serge Depaquit
• 1984 - 1989 : Jean-Claude Le Scornet

Bibliography

• Malfroy, Soïg, La fédération du PSU des Côtes-du-Nord face au Programme commun, IEP Rennes 2003-2004fr:Parti socialiste unifié