Yaël Braun-Pivet, from President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Renaissance party, was controversially reelected as president of the French National Assembly after securing 220 votes in the third round.
Her main rival, veteran Communist lawmaker André Chassaigne of the left-wing NFP coalition, garnered 207 votes.
With the Assembly’s presidency decided by a margin of only 14 votes, the votes of 17 ministers who had just resigned were decisive.
However, France’s Constitution prohibits anyone from being a member of both the government and the parliament.
According to the electoral code, a minister-MP has one month to choose between the two roles, during which they cannot vote or receive any parliamentary pay.
Macron accepted the government’s resignation only two days before the vote.
Green legislator Sandrine Rousseau called for legal action, criticising Macron for accepting the government’s resignation just in time to allow 17 resigning ministers to vote.
“The separation of powers has been called into question, with 17 ministers taking part in the vote”, said Chasaigne, denouncing the “mixture of executive and legislative power”.
While the votes cast by the 17 minister-MPs could be deemed illegal, President Macron and his allies can argue the ex-ministers can vote after they have resigned, exploiting a legal loophole.
The legal text says the incompatibility of the minister-MP position “does not take effect if the Government resigns before the expiry of the said period.”
A constitutional challenge is expected, but the Constitutional Council’s response to the issue remains uncertain.
Experts say it may ultimately fall to the President of the National Assembly, in fact, to resolve this issue.
Braun-Pivet’s victory underscores Macron’s continuing influence in the National Assembly and marks a setback for the Left.
She received support not only from Macron’s centrist allies but also from right-wing Republicans, who aimed to prevent a leftist from assuming the role.
In her reelection speech, the 53-year-old woman pledged to “seek compromises, invent new methods to provide the French with the new solutions they demand”.
Les Français se sont massivement rendus aux urnes. Ils ont élu une Assemblée nationale plus représentative que jamais, mais aussi plus divisée que jamais.
Notre responsabilité est immense, nous n’avons pas le choix : nous devons nous entendre, rechercher des compromis, inventer… pic.twitter.com/EU91fWUPry
— Yaël Braun-Pivet (@YaelBRAUNPIVET) July 18, 2024
The results of the vote may indicate the future alliances that could appear in France’s next National Assembly.
Chassaigne accused Braun-Pivet and the Republicans of engaging in an “unholy alliance,” alleging that the party had backed her in exchange for disproportionately significant positions in the Assembly.
The left-wing opposition denounced the outcome as a “democratic coup de force.”
“The vote in the Assembly is the new coup of a group ready to do anything to keep all the powers. A red line is crossed with the illegal vote of ministers. The entire democratic system is called into question” said Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the hard-left party la France Insoumise.
Le vote à l'Assemblée est le nouveau coup de force d'une clique prête à tout pour garder tous les pouvoirs. Une ligne rouge est franchie avec le vote illicite de ministres. Le système démocratique tout entier est mis en cause. Le Président doit se ressaisir et nommer un Premier…
— Jean-Luc Mélenchon (@JLMelenchon) July 18, 2024
The distribution of positions within the assembly will continue on July 19.
The Left wants to create a “cordon sanitaire” which will exclude the RN from key positions in the Assembly in the name of the “republican front”.
Macron’s parliamentary allies are divided on this point.
The French Left has pushed President Emmanuel Macron to appoint a left-wing prime minister as well as continue to marginalise Marine Le Pen’s National Rally. https://t.co/u6928H9Ju2
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) July 9, 2024
