The new president of the National Assembly will be elected on Thursday, July 18 by all the deputies. Several candidates are in the running, but none is certain to win in the absence of an absolute majority. Who has the best chances?
While all eyes are on Matignon, another position of responsibility is up for grabs: that of President of the National Assembly. And the name of the person who will sit in the Perchoir to overlook the entire chamber will be known as of Thursday, July 18, unlike the name of the Prime Minister. Another difference that could push politicians to aspire more to the presidency of the lower house of Parliament than to the government: the President of the National Assembly is elected by the majority of deputies while the Prime Minister is appointed by the sole decision of the President of the Republic. However, without an absolute majority, the outcome of the election of the occupant of the Perchoir is more open than the list of possible names for Matignon is long, even if in both cases coalitions favor the chances of being chosen.
The President of the National Assembly, who occupies the fourth most important position in the Republic, will have a central role in this new legislature, as the chamber is not dominated by a majority bloc. The debates in the Assembly will be decisive for each text and the discussions to obtain majorities may be stormy; Yaël Braun-Pivet’s successor will therefore have the task of ensuring that the balances within the Assembly are respected. A position of responsibility that is appealing to many deputies. Which ones?
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, hopes to be able to regain her place in the Perchoir. “Obviously I have to discuss it with my political group and the partners of the majority. But that is my wish,” she had slipped on France Inter July 9. And to add to that France 2 : “For two years, I have shown that I was capable of managing an Assembly without a majority.” The MP 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 and Emmanuel Macron would have even, 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?
Supported by the right or not, the candidacy and victory of Yaël Braun-Pivet are far from convincing certain members of the presidential camp. “She thinks that 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 the Parisian media. However, the MoDem does not seem to want to send a candidate to face Yaël Braun-Pivet and at Horizons they announce “not to block” the deputy.
A “common” and ecological candidacy for the New Popular Front?
While it is busy finding a consensus on the name of a possible Prime Minister, the New Popular Front (NFP) has another urgent matter before July 18: it is necessary to “agree immediately on a common candidacy for the presidency of the National Assembly” declared the coordinator of La France insoumise, Manuel Bompard, on BFMTV July 15. The left-wing union therefore wants a common candidate, but will it have as much trouble finding a profile that is unanimously supported as it did for Matignon? Perhaps not. The rebellious elected official assured that his party is “ready for this candidacy not to come from La France insoumise”. The socialists, also fussy about the name of the candidate for Matignon, have not yet expressed themselves. But it is rumored that Boris Vallaud, president of the socialist group in the National Assembly, is projecting himself to the Perchoir.
However, it is the names of the two Green elected officials that come up most often. Sandrine Rousseau was the first to express her views on the presidency of the Assembly at the microphone of South Radio : “I think I would respect democratic balances much more than has been done so far.” But it would be MP Cyrielle Chatelain who would have the NFP’s favor. “Chatelain emerges as a consensus candidate. She constitutes a point of balance between the socialist and the Insoumis. If it’s Chatelain, we have more chances than if it’s Panot” according to the analysis of an Ecologist at Parisian. But the candidate of the left to the Perchoir will necessarily come from another political force than the one that will send a personality to Matignon. Problem, no name has been decided for the moment and the discussions could remain suspended until a consensus is found for the Assembly.
Another name has slipped into the list of options being considered, that of the communist André Chassaigne. The Puy-de-Dôme MP confirmed that his name was circulating at theHumanityaccording to him the arguments in its favor are “[sa] knowledge of the institution, experience related to [son] seniority, but also [sa] reputation as a group president who respects the parliamentary function and is open to dialogue.”
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 present and obtain the absolute majority of the votes cast to win. If necessary, a second round is organized under the same conditions with the possibility for certain candidates to withdraw. And if there again the absolute majority is not reached, a third round is planned and can be won with a simple relative majority.