François Asselineau

François Asselineau (French pronunciation: [fʁɑ̃swa asəlino] , born 14 September 1957) is a French politician and an Inspector General for finances.

Asselineau was a member of the Rally for France (RPF) and UMP before creating his own political party the Popular Republican Union (Union Populaire Républicaine or UPR). His movement promotes France's unilateral withdrawal from the European Union, the Eurozone and NATO. Asselineau has been described as a souverainist, but does not self-identify as such. Although he identifies as being on neither side of the left–right political spectrum, he has been described as right-wing to far-right.

Asselineau has had a troubled relationship with the media, which he has repeatedly accused of "censorship". In his critique he includes French Wikipedia, which had once considered him insufficiently noteworthy to justify a page in the encyclopedia. The activism of his supporters to try and increase media coverage of Asselineau and the UPR has been noted by some observers.

He ran in the 2017 French presidential election, presenting himself as the "Frexit candidate". He was eventually eliminated in the first round, earning 0.92% of the votes. For the 2022 presidential election he failed to secure 500 sponsorships from elected officials in order to run.

Education

Asselineau enrolled in HEC Paris where he graduated in 1980 with the MSc in Management. He enrolled at the École nationale d'administration (promotion "Léonard de Vinci", 1985).

Career

Asselineau started his career in Japan in the department of economic expansion for National Service Overseas (CSNE). Served in 1985 as inspector General in the inspection générale des Finances.