Joachim Son-Forget

Born in South Korea, Joachim Son-Forget was adopted by a French family as a child and grew up in Langres, before studying in Dijon, Paris and Lausanne.[5]

In 2005, he received a Master 2 in cognitive science from CogMaster (co-accredited by Paris Descartes University, EHESS and ENS Ulm) with cognitive psychologist Stanislas Dehaene. In 2008 he graduated at the end of the second cycle (Master 2) of medical studies at the University of Burgundy. In 2015, he obtained a doctorate MD-PhD in medicine and cognitive neuroscience. The subject of his thesis was "Visuo-vestibular mechanisms of bodily self-consciousness".[1]

He supported Socialist candidate François Hollande during the 2012 French presidential election. He was secretary of the Geneva section of the French Socialist Party within the Federation of French Abroad, and chairman of the committee of activists of the Party of European Socialists in Switzerland, before taking leave in 2014.[6] In 2017, he joined then-presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron's political movement, En Marche! (LaREM)

Son-Forget in 2017

Son-Forget was the REM candidate in the 2017 French legislative election for the sixth constituency for French residents overseas, which covers Switzerland and Liechtenstein. In the first round, he obtained 63.55% of valid votes, far ahead of his main opponent, then-incumbent Republican candidate Claudine Schmid who got 15.76%. However, the rules of the French electoral system did not secure a first-round victory for Son-Forget as the turnout was only 20.19%. Therefore, a second round was held, opposing only Joachim Son-Forget and Claudine Schmid: it was won by Son-Forget with 74.94% of valid votes, while the turnout was even lower than the first round, with 18.78%.[7] Son-Forget was one of 10 successful candidates for overseas constituencies from either LaREM or its ally the Democratic Movement (MoDem), over 11 overseas constituencies in total.[8][9]

As a member of the National Assembly, he sits on the Foreign Affairs Committee and serves as president of the France-South Korea Friendship Group[10] and vice-president of the France-Kosovo Friendship Group.[11] With La France Insoumise (LFI) member Jean-Luc Mélenchon, he co-wrote a report on France's strategy on seas and oceans.[12]

When Christophe Castaner was appointed Minister of the Interior in October 2018, Joachim Son-Forget declared himself a candidate to succeed him as Executive Officer of La République En Marche!, opposing fellow LaREM Member of Parliament Stanislas Guerini, who was forecast as Castaner's likely successor.[13][14] The internal election was eventually held in November 2018. On 1 December 2018, Son-Forget lost the election to Guerini, with 18% of valid votes.[14]

On 29 December 2018, Son-Forget resigned from both the party La République En Marche! and its parliamentary group amidst controversy about his recent activity on social networks and an online spat with Green Senator Esther Benbassa.[15][16] Now an independent member of the National Assembly, Son-Forget declared he was still supporting President Macron.[16]

Logo of Je suis français et européen

On 31 December 2018, Son-Forget announced he would create his own political party, Je suis français et européen ("I am French and European") abbreviated as JSFee.[note 1][18] The party was renamed in July 2019 as Valeur Absolue (which translates to "absolute value").[19][20]

In January 2019, Son-Forget joined center-right parliamentary group UDI, Agir and Independents.[21][22] He resigned from the group in December 2019, following controversy about a Twitter post showing him in the company of Marion Maréchal, member of French nationalist party National Rally.[23][24]

In February 2020, invited on the set of talk show Touche pas à mon poste !, Son-Forget announced he would run for the 2022 French presidential election. He cited Alexandre Benalla (former deputy chief of staff to Emmanuel Macron) as one of his supporters.[25] Previously, Son-Forget had attempted to have Benalla hired as his parliamentary assistant; his application was rejected.[26]

In 2021, Son-Forget began assisting and actively gathering support for far-right presidential candidate Éric Zemmour early in the campaign, and expressed his desire to be a candidate to the legislative election. He was purported to represent Reconquête, the party founded by Zemmour.[27] Son-Forget's change of political affiliation, from socialism to liberalism to the far-right, has been described as a singular path by some in the French media, and surprised personalities within La République En Marche of which he used to be a member.[28] In an interview on Sud Radio, Son-Forget insisted that neither he nor Zemmour were far-right, and explained his endorsement for Zemmour out of right-wing liberalism.[29]

After the first round of the presidential election which saw the elimination of Zemmour, and while Zemmour endorsed nationalist candidate Marine Le Pen ahead of the second round, Son-Forget endorsed incumbent president Emmanuel Macron. In an interview with Swiss newspaper Blick, Son-Forget, describing himself as a liberal, explained his endorsement by calling Le Pen's program "far-left" and denouncing her alleged ties with Russian president Vladimir Putin.[30]