This is one of the conditions that Marine Le Pen is putting forward to avoid censoring the new government: proportional representation. “If there are new legislative elections in a year, we could find ourselves in the same situation of total blockage as today, without an absolute majority,” she notes in The Tribune Sunday. (…) We must therefore adopt another criterion, which allows a political force to have a majority and govern the country, while having a better representation of the currents that run through it. Single-round proportional representation also allows transparency of the objectives of the different parties vis-à-vis their voters. This is why the multiple withdrawals that took place to make us lose were deeply embarrassing. Alliances must be made in advance, so that the French know what is going on when they cast their ballot paper.”
Message received: “If proportional representation is a solution, I don’t rule it out,” Michel Barnier said on TF1 on September 6, during his first interview. A solution, really? A problem knot, above all. It is no coincidence that the subject is the Arlesienne of this double five-year term, that of François Hollande too. And that it could explode the central bloc, which is nevertheless intended to support the executive. This time, contrary to the little tune heard during the transfer of power at Matignon, there is not a bill waiting for Michel Barnier on his desk, and for good reason: the outgoing Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, is not a great defender of the cause. He also knows that the Renaissance group that he now chairs is very divided on the issue.
One of his predecessors at Matignon, Edouard Philippe, is no more enthusiastic, who recalled last week in The Point : “I am very attached to the majority vote. And if we had to move towards proportional representation, then I would only support it if the possibility of combining a local executive mandate and a parliamentary mandate was re-established. Let us be wary of a voting method that would allow the Parisian political party headquarters to construct lists.”
Should we pass the hot potato to the deputies?
That’s already two big stones in the shoe. A third one is missing, called Laurent Wauquiez. He is very reserved on the principle and, like the President of the Senate Gérard Larcher, links his possible introduction to a reestablishment of the accumulation of mandates – which the Macronists have a holy horror. The snake is biting its tail.
During her lunch with Michel Barnier on Saturday, Yaël Braun-Pivet, who had proposed in the spring to retain proportional representation for deputies from departments with more than 11 elected representatives, told him about her discussions yesterday and today with the various groups. Marine Le Pen advocates lowering the threshold to nine deputies, François Bayrou is in favor of full proportional representation and very opposed to the Braun-Pivet option, the socialists are procrastinating, the rebels approve of the principle but doubt that it will serve their interests, which encourages them not to rush into it, the greens want to think about it again, the communists are mainly looking to save their strongholds in Seine-Maritime and to get Fabien Roussel back… In short, the consensus is not exactly there.
Should the government then, in order to get rid of them and because it will not necessarily succeed in imposing its views, pass the hot potato to the deputies? A simple law, resulting from a proposal from the Assembly – without the agreement of the Senate or even that of the executive – would be enough to change the voting method. But there is an additional difficulty: the dosage. The plan suggested by the President of the Assembly amounts to electing a quarter of the deputies by proportional representation, when others are calling for full proportional representation. Could this system be adopted against the wishes of a large part of the central bloc and the right, i.e. the two main forces supporting Michel Barnier? The imbroglio would be total.
The last time proportional representation (full and at the departmental level) was introduced for legislative elections in France was in 1986. And the problems came (in particular) from the majority then in power. Presented to the Council of Ministers on April 3, 1985, the bill introducing it caused the resignation of an important minister, Michel Rocard. This Wednesday, at 11:50 p.m., the Minister of Agriculture calls the switchboard at the Elysée (we’re talking about another era!). He is put in touch with the duty advisor. “I would like to speak to the president.” But François Mitterrand is asleep, should he be woken up? Rocard insists, he wants to leave without further ado, within the next hour. It is Prime Minister Laurent Fabius who takes it upon himself to wake the head of state. Then, Rocard and Mitterrand exchange briefly, before the former calls AFP. It’s 2am and a final problem arises: the agency’s journalist thinks it’s a hoax! The dispatch will be released at 2:27am. When we tell you that proportional representation is quite a story…
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