The party of re-elected French President Emmanuel Macron is changing its name: La République en Marche (LREM, The Republic in Motion) will be called Renaissance (rebirth) in the future, said party leader Stanislas Guerini on Thursday in Paris.
The "political movement" founded by Macron six years ago should be renewed in this way and expanded into a "people's party", said Guerini.
Their goal is to be open to all citizens and MPs.
Guerini announced the new name at a press conference attended by Macron's ex-Prime Minister Édouard Philippe for his conservative Horizons party, Parliament Speaker Richard Ferrand (LREM), and ex-minister François Bayrou of the center party MoDem.
They had previously announced that they would run for the general elections in June as an alliance under the title "Ensemble" (together).
The presidential election had once again revealed France's political divisions.
In order to be able to implement his controversial reform plans, however, Macron needs a majority in parliament.
Because they want to prevent that, France's left-wing parties are currently forging an alliance for the June elections.
The aim is to elect the left-wing populist Jean-Luc Mélenchon to the post of Prime Minister via a majority in the National Assembly.
If the plan succeeds, for the first time in two decades a president would be forced to cohabitate with an opposition prime minister.
On Thursday evening, however, the National Council of Socialists and thus their internal parliament still have to approve a corresponding agreement with Mélenchon's party La France Insoumise (LFI).