PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS IN FRANCE
After two rounds of polling on June 30 and July 7, France will elect a new National Assembly.
For the first time in 22 years, there is a real possibility that the President and the Prime Minister, leader of the National Assembly, will not be from the same party.
This phenomenon is called cohabitation, and has only occurred thrice ever since
France transitioned into the Fifth Republic.
THE FRENCH PARLIAMENT
The French parliament is a bicameral legislature consisting of:
- An upper house, the Senate, and
- A lower house, the National Assembly.
The upcoming polls will elect legislators for 577 seats in the National Assembly, Including 13 overseas districts and 11 constituencies that represent French expats abroad.
A party needs 289 seats to secure an absolute majority.
WHAT IS THE FIFTH REPUBLIC?
France is a semi-presidential, representative parliamentary democracy, with clearly defined roles for the President and the Prime Miniter.
The current political regime, called the Fifth Republic, first came into effect in 1958, replacing the former parliamentary republic system (The fourth repulic) with what political scientist Jean V Poulard calls a “double-headed executive”
The new constitution of 1958, which introduced the Fifth Republic, restored executive power.
Since 1962, the French President has been directly elected by popular vote, while the Prime Minister is the leader of the largest party/coalition in the National Assembly.
THE FOURTH REPUBLIC
The Fourth Republic, in place from 1946 to 1958, was a parliamentary system With power effectively concentrated in the lower house of the Parliament.
In the absence of an absolute majority, a series of coalition cabinets replaced one Another around every six months.
The prime ministers & cabinets from 1946 to 1958:
In 12 years, France saw 16 Prime Ministers come and go, and a total of 24 cabinets.
PRESIDENT V/S PRIME MINISTER
- The President, elected for a term • The parliament, headed by the Prime
of five years. Minister, is responsible for all
- Until 2000, the Presdent domestic policy decisions.
enjoyed seven-year terms, • Article 21 of the French
which was then reduced to constitution allows the PM the
five-year terms. power to “direct the actions of
- Serves as the head of the state and The government.”
Commander of the Armed Forces. • The cabinet is appointed by the
- She enjoys regulatory power, president under the PM’s
exercising control of all recommendation.
decisions on matters of foreign • The Prime Minister himself cannot
policy and defence. be dismissed by the President, but his
resignation can be requested.
IMPEACHMENT OF THE PRESIDENT
The President can be impeached by the Parliament for willfully violating the Constitution or the national laws.
This requires a two-thirds majority in both houses of the French Parliament, as well as in a joint session of both Houses.
WHAT IS COHABITATION?
This system can lead to situations where the french legislature is dominated by a coalition/party opposing the President. In such instances, the President is obliged To appoint a leader from the opposing party as Prime Minister, who enjoys the support of a parliamentary majority. Cohabitation is very rare in france, and Has historically been marred with controversy. There have only been three such Instances in the French Fifth Republic:
- President François Mitterrand of the Socialist Party and Prime Minister Jacques Chirac heading the right-wing RPR/UDF coalition (1986-88);
- President Mitterrand and Prime Minister Edouard Balladur of the RPR/UDF Coalition (1993-95); and
- President Chirac and Prime Minister Lionel Jospin of the Socialist Party (1997-2002).
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