Scarcely has the presidential election passed than minds are already turning to the legislative elections.
Since the establishment of the five-year term under President Jacques Chirac, this election takes place every five years in the wake of the presidential election.
How is it going?
What are the challenges of parliamentary groups?
How can cohabitation result from this?
France 24 brings you some answers to better understand this crucial electoral deadline.
Deputy © Graphic Studio France Media World
The legislative elections make it possible to elect 577 deputies to the National Assembly.
They are the ones who will vote for the laws of the next five-year term, or will not vote for them.
For example, during the 15th legislature which started in June 2017, some 354 laws were voted (figure stopped on February 28, 2022 because during the election period, the National Assembly stops all its work).
MNAs also have a role in controlling government action.
They can question the ministers, in writing or orally, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, on local news in their constituency or on national politics.
MEPs can also request the opening of a commission of inquiry to investigate a case in greater depth.
Recently, parliamentary inquiries were opened after the
>> To read: Legislative 2022: ballot papers that are worth gold
The number of deputies has not always been the same.
The rules have indeed changed in this area since the creation of the Fifth Republic in 1958. Their number varies according to demographic evolution.
The electoral division applied for the legislative elections, resulting from the law of February 23, 2010, distributes the seats by population brackets, also called constituencies.
A slice corresponds to 125,000 inhabitants.
France is thus divided into 566 legislative constituencies, to which eleven new sections must be added since 2012 to represent the approximately 2.5 million French people living abroad, i.e. a total of 577 constituencies.
Today, it seems that this division is no longer necessarily in line with population movements: the number of deputies in the departments which have lost inhabitants has never been reduced.
During his first campaign, in 2017, Emmanuel Macron made a commitment to reduce the number of deputies and senators by around a third, in particular in order to reduce state spending, and to elect 20% to proportional.
In July 2018, a bill on the reform of institutions was presented to Parliament, but the examination of this text jostled by successive crises – Benalla case, yellow vests, Covid-19 crisis – never succeeded.
In his 2022 program, Emmanuel Macron no longer alludes to this bill.
vote © Graphic studio France Media World
The deputies are elected by direct universal suffrage, that is to say by all French adults registered on the electoral lists.
Legislative elections take place within each constituency according to a two-round majority ballot, unless one of the candidates obtains, in the first round, an absolute majority of the votes cast and 25% of the electors registered on the electoral lists.
A feat that remains rare: only four deputies were elected in the first round in 2017.
To remain in the second round, candidates must have obtained the votes of at least 12.5% of registered voters.
If only one candidate reaches this threshold, the candidate who has collected, after him, the greatest number of votes in the first round can remain in the second round.
If no candidate reaches this threshold, then the two candidates with the highest number of votes in the first round remain in the running for the second round.
who may appear © Graphic studio France Media World
To be a candidate in the legislative elections, you must be French and at least 18 years old.
But these two conditions are not enough.
Persons under a sentence of ineligibility pronounced by a court cannot present themselves.
Certain senior civil servants (prefects, magistrates, rectors) cannot run for deputy in the department where they exercised their functions, for a period of one to three years.
Persons under guardianship are also not eligible to be candidates.
Finally, since the 2017 elections, deputies no longer have the right to combine their mandate with another local office such as mayor, president or vice-president of a region, department or intermunicipal authority.
They have the right to be a candidate, but after their election,
It is not necessary to have geographical ties in a constituency to run there.
You don't need to live there either.
"The deputies are invested with a national mandate. Although elected in a constituency, each represents the entire Nation", we recall on the site of the National Assembly.
This is why we sometimes speak of a "parachuted candidate", when absolutely no local ties bind them to the constituency in which they are running.
What schedule?
© Graphic studio France Media World
If the parties are currently beginning their negotiations for possible alliances, they can file the declarations of candidacy for the mandate of deputy from May 16 and at the latest until May 20 at 6 p.m.
For the second round, the submission of applications is possible on June 13 and 14.
The electoral campaign opens from May 30 for the first round.
The campaign posters are then attached to the locations specifically reserved in each municipality.
The official campaign is also launched on radio and television for the parties presenting candidates.
Three days after the second round, the new National Assembly takes office, on Wednesday June 22 for its 16th legislature.
On June 28, the president of the Bourbon palace will be elected by secret ballot at the podium.
The political groups that will sit in the hemicycle are also announced on the same day.
Finally, the composition of the eight permanent committees, responsible for examining a particular question within their competence, will take place the following day, Wednesday 29 June.
challenge © Graphic studio France Media World
Each elected representative can decide to join a political group of their choice.
It takes 15 deputies (against 20 before 2009) to form a parliamentary group.
In general, membership is based on the political affiliation of the elected member, but there are groups bringing together parliamentarians from several parties if the number of elected members is not sufficient to form a group.
The challenge of belonging to a group is twofold: it is political and financial.
Having a group makes it possible to organize oneself in order to weigh in on the debates and on the functioning of the assembly.
Concretely, the groups benefit from more speaking time during questions to the government, they can also request a suspension of the session or the vote in public ballot.
On the financial level, the Assembly reserves a budget for the parliamentary groups to cover their expenses and benefit from material facilities, such as the provision of offices or meeting rooms.
Even more valuable, it opens up the possibility of surrounding yourself with collaborators.
Beyond the groups, the major parties seek to reach other thresholds within the National Assembly.
It takes a minimum of 185 deputies to request the establishment of a referendum of shared initiative.
The proposal must first obtain the signature of more than 4 million voters for a referendum to be organized.
And to seize the Constitutional Council on the conformity of a law, it is necessary to reach a threshold of 60 deputies per formation.
Finally, if 58 deputies sign a motion of censure, a debate begins and a vote then takes place.
cohabitation © Graphic studio France Media World
We speak of cohabitation when the president is not on the same political side as his minister.
This situation may arise after legislative elections, when the hemicycle is dominated by a political tendency different from the presidential party.
This conjuncture occurred three times under the Fifth Republic.
Twice under the presidency of François Mitterrand (Socialist Party), with Jacques Chirac (Rassemblement pour la République) first from 1986 to 1988, then from 1993 to 1995 with Édouard Balladur (RPR).
The last cohabitation dates back to 1997 and until 2002, when Lionel Jospin (PS) was Jacques Chirac's Prime Minister.
In this case, the president is forced to appoint a prime minister from the new parliamentary majority.
The head of state and the head of government must then "coexist" to lead the nation.
This situation is unfavorable to the President of the Republic, who loses his power over the internal decisions of the country.
Internal affairs fall to the Prime Minister and his majority in the Assembly, empowered to pass laws.
The president must share his prerogatives with his prime minister.
Furthermore, the Head of State cannot force his Prime Minister to resign.
On the other hand, he can always dissolve the National Assembly, subject to the organization of a new ballot.
Cohabitation allows alternation without triggering a political or institutional crisis,
but this configuration can hamper political action.
If the cohabitation had started well from 1997 to 2000 between Jacques Chirac and Lionel Jospin, it was then conflictual between the two men, blocking finance bills and social security financing bills in 2002 in particular.
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