The deputies elect the president of the National Assembly this Thursday, July 18, but no political group is sure to see its candidate win. If the left plays the union, a rapprochement between the right and Macronie could advantage one candidate and harm another.
The essential
- The President of the National Assembly will be elected this Thursday, July 18, by all the deputies chosen during the last legislative elections. Voting begins at 3 p.m.
- At least six candidates are in the running to run for the presidency of the National Assembly: André Chassaigne (New Popular Front), Yaël Braun-Pivet (Together for the Republic), Naïma Moutchou (Horizons), Philippe Juvin (Republican Right), Charles de Courson (Liberties, Independents, Overseas and Territories) and Sébastien Chenu (National Rally).
- There are three rounds to elect the President of the National Assembly. In the first two rounds, a candidate must obtain an absolute majority of votes to win. If no one succeeds, a candidate can be elected only by obtaining the greatest number of votes. Candidates can withdraw or be added in each round and thus change the distribution of votes.
Live
13:39 – The left opposes the allocation of key positions to the National Rally
All political parties in place in the Assembly can present candidates for each of the key positions in the chamber (the president, the six vice-presidents and the three quaestors). But the New Popular Front calls for none of these functions to be ceded to elected members of the National Rally. Marine Le Pen, president of the RN group of deputies in the Assembly, denounces a “negation of democracy”, but the left-wing parties assume their position. The head of the PS, Olivier Faure, believes on BFMTV that “nothing obliges” to “give responsibilities” to the extreme right, Olivier Faure says: “Why should we participate in their notabilization, in a form of trivialization of the extreme right as if it were a republican party like the others?” he added. He was later joined by the rebellious Mathilde Panot who declared on LCI: “We do not want to give positions of responsibility that aim to legitimize the extreme right in our Assembly and in our chamber”.
1:30 p.m. – Hello and welcome!
Welcome to this live broadcast dedicated to the election of the President of the National Assembly. The deputies are meeting at the Palais Bourbon this Thursday, July 18 for the opening of the new legislature and will have to elect the person who will sit in the Perchoir. The election is strategic, but also promises to be tight in the absence of an absolute majority and a coalition large enough to secure half of the votes.
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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 am capable of managing an Assembly without a majority.” The deputy is said to have the support ofEmmanuel 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 would have, according to The Parisianindicated to Emmanuel Macron that he had established contacts with elected officials from the Republican Right (the new name for LR) to ensure their support during the vote. But Laurent Wauquiez’s group ultimately entered a candidate from its camp in the race for the Perchoir. Will the former president of the Assembly still be supported by the right?
The presidential candidate is already far from convincing in her own political family. It is not her abilities, but her re-election that is questionable, especially after Macronie’s defeat in the legislative elections. “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 is not her,” confided an elected member of Ensemble to Parisian. Others go so far as to say that her re-election would send a “bad signal”, that of a status quo contrary to the desire for change expressed by the French. Faced with these doubts, the presidential camp has planned a second option: 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 voting if necessary, according to Le Figaro.
Naïma Moutchou to represent Horizons
The presidential camp had proposed a primary to the other parties in its coalition to ensure the union of Ensemble, Horizons and MoDem behind the same candidate, but Edouard Philippe’s party decided to engage its own candidate. It is the deputy of Val-d’Oise Naïma Moutchou who is therefore in the race to seek the Perchoir and will face Yaël Braun-Pivet. The Philippeist party, keen to maintain its relations with its allies, has nevertheless indicated that it will not “block” the candidate of the presidential camp if she is in the lead.
François Bayrou’s MoDem also hesitated to nominate a candidate other than the Macronist party. A few names of possible candidates were mentioned, including those of former ministers Geneviève Darrieussecq and Philippe Vigier, as well as Marc Fesneau. Will they be on the starting line this Thursday?
Philippe Juvin, candidate of the Republican Right
The name of the party’s vice-president Annie Genevard has long held the rope within the right, but it is finally the deputy of Hauts-de-Seine Philippe Juvin who will try to run for the presidency of the Assembly on behalf of the Republican Right. His comrade from Doubs will rather be a candidate for a vice-presidency of the hemicycle according to BFMTVThe right-wing MP estimated on July 12 that RMC that “the top priority is to ensure that the National Assembly is not chaired by someone who comes from the LFI camp.”
Is the candidacy of the man, who has already been tipped to be in government several times during Emmanuel Macron’s terms, designed to facilitate a possible coalition between the presidential camp and the right? Especially since Philippe Juvin has regularly invited the right to work with the Macronist party. The presidential camp hopes to find allies within the Republican Right, but knows that this will require making pledges to the party: “If we want a coalition with LR, we have to pay them dearly,” a deputy told France Info. Would the Macronists therefore be ready to support the candidate of the right rather than Yaël Braun-Pivet?
André Chassaigne, the sole candidate of the New Popular Front
The left has decided to present a joint candidacy for the four parties of the New Popular Front (NFP) to run for the presidency of the National Assembly. While it has difficulty agreeing on the name of a Prime Minister, it has managed to unite behind the candidacy of André Chassaigne for the Perchoir. The president of the group of communist deputies in the Assembly won against the other candidates, notably against his ecologist counterpart, Cyrielle Chatelain, who was in the lead, thanks to the “criterion of seniority” and his “knowledge of the institution”, he indicated.
The Ecologists had proposed two names: those of Sandrine Rousseau and Cyrielle Chatelain. The socialists had hired MP Boris Vallaud, when La France insoumise had not publicly presented a candidate for the Perchoir.
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 a candidate for the presidency of the hemicycle: the deputy of the North, Sébastien Chenu. The National Rally is indeed 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.