Trait d'Union was an organized caucus

Caucus

A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a political party or movement, especially in the United States and Canada. As the use of the term has been expanded the exact definition has come to vary among political cultures.-Origin of the term:...

 in the French Socialist Party

Socialist Party (France)

The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in France and the largest party of the French centre-left. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in France, along with the center-right Union for a Popular Movement...

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Trait d'Union was founded in August 2005 by supporters of Jean-Luc Mélenchon

Jean-Luc Mélenchon

Jean-Luc Mélenchon is a French politician who served in the government of France as Minister of Vocational Education from 2000 to 2002. He was also a member of the Senate of France, representing the Essonne department...

 within the New World

New World (France)

New World was an organized caucus in the French Socialist Party.New World was founded in 2002 following the implosion of the Socialist Left. Socialist Left members, including Jean-Luc Mélenchon were joined by followers of Henri Emmanuelli and his Democracy and Equality movement...

 caucus. Soon afterward, the faction supported Laurent Fabius

Laurent Fabius

Laurent Fabius is a French Socialist politician. He served as Prime Minister from 17 July 1984 to 20 March 1986. He was 37 years old when he was appointed and is, so far, the youngest Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic.-Early life:...

' motion at the Le Mans Congress

Le Mans Congress

The Le Mans Congress was the twenty-first national congress of the French Socialist Party . It took place from November 18 to 20, 2005....

 and at the Reims Congress

Reims Congress

The Reims Congress was the twenty-second national congress of the French Socialist Party , taking place from 14 to 16 November 2008 in the city of Reims in the Marne....

 in 2008, it supported Benoît Hamon

Benoît Hamon

Benoît Hamon is a French politician, member of the Socialist Party , part of the Party of European Socialists. He was Member of the European Parliament for the East of France from 2004 to 2009. He was national secretary for Europe in the French socialist party. At present, he is spokesman...

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The faction wanted to serve as a trait d'union (hyphen

Hyphen

The hyphen is a punctuation mark used to join words and to separate syllables of a single word. The use of hyphens is called hyphenation. The hyphen should not be confused with dashes , which are longer and have different uses, or with the minus sign which is also longer...

) between the PS and the "other left" (notably the French Communist Party

French Communist Party

The French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains a large membership, behind only that of the Union for a Popular Movement , and considerable influence in French...

. It clearly supported alliances with the left, but rejected any alliance with the centrist MoDem

Democratic Movement (France)

The Democratic Movement , MoDem) is a centrist, social liberal and pro-European French political party that was founded by centrist politician François Bayrou to succeed his Union for French Democracy and to contest the 2007 legislative election, after his strong showing in the 2007 presidential...

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The faction disappeared de-facto after Mélenchon and Marc Dolez

Marc Dolez

Marc Dolez is a member of the National Assembly of France. He represents the Nord department, and is a member of the Gauche démocrate et républicaine. A former Socialist, he was a founding member, with PS Senator Jean-Luc Mélenchon, of the Left Party.-References:...

 left the PS to form the Left Party

Left Party (France)

The Left Party is a French democratic socialist political party. It seeks to emulate the German political party Die Linke led by Gesine Lötzsch and Klaus Ernst.- History :...

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