In politics, cordon sanitaire (French: [kɔʁdɔ̃ sanitɛːʁ]; lit. 'sanitary cordon') is the refusal of one or more political parties to cooperate with certain other political parties. Often this is because the targeted party has strategies or an ideology perceived as unacceptable or extremist. The term cordon sanitaire has been applied to refusals to cooperate with parties which are populist, extremist left or extremist right. The cordon sanitaire can be seen as a social norm.
___2024_The_Republicans_alliance_crisis_q.jpg)
>>>PUT SHARE BUTTONS HERE<<<
👉 Cordon sanitaire (politics) in the context of 2024 The Republicans alliance crisis
The 2024 Republicans alliance crisis within the French right-wing party The Republicans (LR) stemmed from an alliance between its president Éric Ciotti and the far-right party National Rally (RN) for the snap legislative elections of 2024, called after President Emmanuel Macron dissolved the French National Assembly. Initially intended to cover "between 70 and 80" constituencies, the alliance materialized in 61 constituencies, including two incumbent LR deputies.
Described as a political revolution by the LR president and a thunderclap by the media, this move was contested by 700 members of LR's national council, who took legal action, and nearly all of its deputies and senators. The LR political bureau unanimously voted to expel Éric Ciotti, accusing him of conducting secret negotiations without consulting his political family or activists and violating party statutes. Ciotti, however, disputed this expulsion. This marked the first time a major party, if its legal bodies validated the plan, would enter a national coalition with the National Rally, breaking the traditional Republican front against the far right.
In this Dossier
Cordon sanitaire (politics) in the context of The Republicans (France)
The Republicans (French: Les Républicains [le ʁepyblikɛ̃], LR) is a liberal-conservative political party in France, largely inspired by the tradition of Gaullism. The party was formed in 2015 as the refoundation of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), which had been established in 2002 under the leadership of the then-president of France, Jacques Chirac. LR is a member of the Centrist Democrat International and the European People's Party, and sits in the European People's Party Group in the European Parliament.
The UMP used to be one of the two major political parties in the Fifth Republic, along with the centre-left Socialist Party, before being eclipsed by the National Rally and Renaissance. The LR candidate in the 2017 presidential election, former Prime Minister François Fillon, placed third in the first round, with 20.0% of the vote. Following the 2017 legislative election, LR became the second-largest party in the National Assembly, behind President Emmanuel Macron's La République En Marche! party (later renamed Renaissance). After a disappointing result in the 2019 European Parliament election, party leader Laurent Wauquiez resigned. He was replaced by Christian Jacob, who remained in office until after the 2022 legislative election, which saw LR lose half of its seats, although it became the kingmaker in a hung parliament. One month before, in the 2022 presidential election, LR nominee Valérie Pécresse placed fifth with 4.7% of the vote. Despite those setbacks, LR was still the largest party in the Senate and headed a plurality of regions of France. Éric Ciotti became president of LR after the 2022 leadership election. In the run-up of the 2024 French legislative election Ciotti came out in favour of an electoral alliance with National Rally. This would have reversed the historic cordon sanitaire that the party had regarding the group. Ciotti was soon removed from his position, which led to a leadership crisis. In May 2025, Bruno Retailleau was elected president of the party.
Cordon sanitaire (politics) in the context of Cordon sanitaire (medicine)
A cordon sanitaire (French pronunciation: [kɔʁdɔ̃ sanitɛʁ], French for "sanitary cordon") is the restriction of movement of people into or out of a defined geographic area, such as a community, region, or country. The term originally denoted a barrier used to stop the spread of infectious diseases. The term is also often used metaphorically, in English, to refer to attempts to prevent the spread of an ideology deemed unwanted or dangerous, such as the containment policy adopted by George F. Kennan against the Soviet Union (see cordon sanitaire in politics).