unable to pass the threshold of 20 deputies on their own, however, the communists – bocquet in particular – were eventually forced to reopen the door to the greens and prg, with mamère proposing a "radical, communist, and green" group. though the pcf continued to petition for a lowering of the bar for a parliamentary group from 20 to 15 deputies, the necessary change of regulation required the assent of a majority of the national assembly, then controlled by the union for a popular movement (ump). there being no guarantee that this would happen, bocquet said that the communists needed to act with "pragmatism". the democratic and republican left group ("groupe de la gauche démocrate et républicaine") was ultimately formed on 26 june with 24 deputies, jean-claude sandrier becoming its first president; it included the deputies of the pcf (with the exception of andré gerin, who refused to join), four greens, and two miscellaneous left deputies: alfred marie-jeanne for martinique and huguette bello for réunion.