"We do not underestimate the fact that the priority of the French today is purchasing power and employment and we regularly have proposals in this direction", but "we think that our role in the majority is to insist on this subject" of the institutions, party president Laurent Hénart told AFP.

"The 2022 election has nevertheless marked a new progress in abstention. And above all, this result of the legislative elections where, finally, we have the disadvantages of proportional representation without having the advantages, shows that in the eyes of the French , the system is at the end of its tether," he added.

The Radical Party, he continued, "is not only in favor of proportional representation but also of the non-renewable seven-year term. The idea is to recreate a political rhythm of the Parliament different from the president. The five-year term and the inversion of the calendar are nevertheless for a lot in the massive development of the majority fact and in a form of subordination at least of the National Assembly to the presidential majority".

The seven-year term "makes it possible to restore to the president his arbitration function, since it necessarily replaces the Prime Minister a little more in chief of the majority", according to Mr. Hénart.

During the campaign, Emmanuel Macron spoke out in favor of a return to the seven-year term, without however including it in his program.

As for proportional representation, advocated by the president and repeatedly demanded by his ally the MoDem, it has not yet seen the light of day, against a backdrop of loss of absolute majority in the National Assembly.

The Radical Party also advocates a new stage of decentralization "with very clear blocks of competence, particularly around regional power".

It carries a “proposal for a negotiated reduction in the number of municipalities, fewer in number but which fully exercise powers instead of transferring them to increasingly multiple cooperation organizations”, added Mr. Hénart.

"We also need to have mechanisms for direct democracy, for encouraging volunteering, which also give citizens the desire to get involved", according to him.

Mr. Hénart was recently re-elected president of the Radical Party, the oldest party in France and "the fourth party in the presidential majority" behind Renaissance, the MoDem and Horizons.

© 2022 AFP