In the absence of an absolute majority, no party can be certain of accessing the presidency of the National Assembly. The left is playing the union, while a possible coalition is in sight between LR and Ensemble.
The new hemicycle is taking shape, but the position of President of the National Assembly is still up for grabs. The person who will sit in the Perchoir will be elected by all the deputies during the first session of the new legislature, this Thursday, July 18. And there are many candidates, even if some have yet to see their candidacy made official on the eve of the vote.
On the left, the New Popular Front has agreed on a joint candidacy as announced on the evening of Tuesday, July 16 by Olivier Faure, but it has not decided between the five candidates in the running according to the count of the environmentalist Cyrielle Chatelain, herself in the race. On the presidential camp side, the re-election of Yaël Braun-Pivet is a done deal even if it is not unanimous and a fallback option seems to be able to be drawn at any time. The Ensemble party must also deal with the possible candidacies from Horizons and the MoDem who refused to participate in a primary proposed by the presidential camp.
If so many names are jostling to become the fourth personality of the State, it is because the role of President of the National Assembly is expected to be crucial during the coming legislature due to the composition of the hemicycle. No absolute majority emerges in the absence of a coalition and parliamentary alliances or circumstantial rapprochements will be the only means of finding majorities. The holding of debates between the different political forces in the National Assembly will therefore be essential.
Yaël Braun-Pivet, candidate for re-election for the presidential camp
Member of Parliament for Yvelines since 2017 and elected President of the National Assembly in 2022, Yaël Braun-Pivet, who was not in favor of dissolving the Assembly, wishes to be able to regain her place in the Perchoir and believes that she is legitimate in the role, as she indicated on France 2 July 8: “For two years, I have shown that I was capable of managing an Assembly without a majority.” The MP would have the support of Emmanuel Macron to present herself as a candidate for the presidential camp, unlike in 2022 when the head of state preferred Minister Roland Lescure. Yaël Braun-Pivet and Emmanuel Macron would even have, according to The Parisianmentioned contacts made with LR elected officials to ensure their support on the day of the vote. But Laurent Wauquiez, president of the LR group in the Assembly, has closed the door to government coalitions, so why would he support the candidate from the presidential camp?
Whether supported by the right or not, Yaël Braun-Pivet’s candidacy and victory are far from convincing some members of the presidential camp. “She thinks we can win, even if it means having the votes of the RN. But how can we explain that we won the presidency of the Assembly when we lost the election? She has to accept that it wasn’t her,” confided an elected representative from Ensemble to the Paris region media. The reappointment of Yaël Braunt-Pivet would send a bad signal according to other Macronists: that of a status quo after elections in which the French expressed a desire for change. But while a primary was announced, no candidacy other than that of the former president of the Assembly was received.
Yaël Braun-Pivet will therefore be on the starting line to access the Perchoir on July 18, but the presidential camp reserves a fallback option if it sees that its candidate struggles to obtain the votes of the deputies: her name is Valérie Létard. The UDI deputy from the North could be added to the list of candidates or replace Yaël Braun-Pivet in the second or third round of the vote if necessary according to Le Figaro.
Competing candidates from Horizons and MoDem?
The primary planned by Ensemble was also supposed to allow for sending only one candidate for the entire coalition of the presidential camp, including the Horizons and MoDem parties. But Macronie’s allies preferred to send their own candidate, even if it meant competing with Yaël Braun-Pivet. Edouard Philippe’s party in particular has shown interest in the Perchoir and the name of Val-d’Oise MP Naïma Moutchou often comes up in the press. While it is considering presenting a candidate, the Horizons party is cultivating its relations with the presidential camp and has indicated that it will not “block” Yaël Braun-Pivet.
The MoDem is still in doubt, as it has not decided whether to send a candidate to run for the presidency of the Assembly or to align itself with Macronie. If there is a candidate, several names have been mentioned: former ministers Geneviève Darrieussecq and Philippe Vigier, and Marc Fesneau.
Annie Genevard, supported by the right and the presidential camp?
LR MP for Doubs Annie Genevard is officially a candidate for the presidency of the National Assembly, subject to the validation of her group, La Droite républicaine, chaired by Laurent Wauquiez. “I can be the third way. I think I have proven myself in leading debates. All political groups have recognized this. I have a certain firmness that has never prevented speech from being expressed freely in the chamber,” says France 3 Franche-Comte the one who has already held the position several times, from 2017 to 2022 as 1st Vice-President of the National Assembly. The elected official could therefore pocket the votes of the right on which Yaël Braun-Pivet has bet to obtain a majority.
If the Republican right has a certain interest in being in the Perchoir, wouldn’t that also play into the hands of the presidential camp? “If we want a coalition with LR, we have to pay them dearly” thus indicated a deputy to France InfoBehind the scenes, the maneuvers to try to elect an LR figure and outline the contours of a possible coalition are intensifying, but “we have to go slowly so as not to upset them, not to give them the impression that their hands are tied” continues the same MP on the subject of the Macron camp.
A “common” and ecological candidacy for the New Popular Front?
While negotiations to find the name of a Prime Minister are tough, the New Popular Front (NFP) has also agreed to find a common candidate for the presidency of the National Assembly as indicated by Olivier Faure, on Tuesday July 16. It remains to decide on a name out of the five candidates who have come forward. One name seems to be the most likely: that of the president of the environmentalist group in the Assembly, Cyrielle Chatelain. The elected official appears to be a choice of “consensus” and a “balance point between the socialist and the Insoumis. If it’s Chatelain, we have a better chance than if it’s Panot” according to the analysis of an environmentalist at Parisian. But another environmentalist is also in the running since Sandrine Rousseau has said she is interested in the role on South Radio : “I think I would respect democratic balances much more than has been done so far.”
The names of Boris Vallaud for the socialists and André Chassaigne for the communists are also in the running for the Perchoir. The name of the fifth candidate counted by Cyrielle Chatelain is not known, could it be that of a rebel? No rebel has made it known publicly that he is a candidate for the post and the rebel leader Manuel Bompard assured, on BFMTV on July 15, that his party is “ready for this candidacy not to come from La France Insoumise.”
Charles de Courson, candidate “guarantor of the proper functioning” of the Assembly
A stranger to the three major political blocs – the presidential camp, the union of the left and the extreme right – Charles de Courson announced that he was a candidate for the presidency of the National Assembly and claims to be able “in this unprecedented and chaotic period” to be the “guarantor of the proper functioning, dignity and depth of the debates” without partisan attitude. The deputy who is starting his eighth term made a name for himself during the pension reform by tabling a motion of censure that nearly brought down the government, by nine votes. “The election of an independent, experienced and dialogue-oriented deputy would be a strong signal sent by the deputies to the French people” estimated Charles de Courson. But will he be supported by a majority of MPs? Several Macronist elected officials have made it known that MP Liot cannot count on their vote.
Sébastien Chenu, candidate expected for the National Rally
On the far right, it is the vice-president of the party and the former vice-president of the National Assembly who is expected to run for the presidency of the hemicycle: the deputy of the North, Sébastien Chenu. The National Rally will indeed be in the running for the Perchoir, but it has no illusions about its chances of victory. The party with the flame has fewer elected representatives than the NFP and the presidential camp and cannot count on any coalition to win votes.
How is the President of the National Assembly elected?
The 577 deputies of the National Assembly can be candidates for the presidency of the hemicycle and several have already expressed an interest in the Perchoir. All those who have made their candidacy official before Thursday, July 18 and the opening of the new legislature will have to submit to the votes of the elected representatives and will have three rounds to try to win. During the first two rounds, an absolute majority of the votes cast will be required, but if a third round is necessary, then a simple majority will be necessary. Note that between each round, candidates can withdraw and others can be added to the list of contenders.