This week, as the second round of early legislative elections approaches, Eric Mandonnet, head of the political service at L’Express, looks back at how cohabitation works and explains why the kind that could open up would be unprecedented.
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The team: Mathias Penguilly (presentation and writing) and Jules Krot (editing and production).
Credits: Europe 1, France Culture, Le HuffPost, Lumni, TF1
Music and design: Emmanuel Herschon/Studio Torrent
Image credits: AFP/JULIEN DE ROSA
Logo: Anne-Laure Chapelain/Benjamin Chazal
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Mathias Penguilly: Cohabitation. At the beginning of Emmanuel Macron’s second term, it still seemed quite improbable. But today, it seems almost inevitable. To understand everything, I called on the head of the political service of L’Express, Eric Mandonnet. Within the editorial staff, you are a bit like the guardian of the “Bible of the political service”, the one where we store the entire history of the French Fifth Republic. Eric, was this cohabitation imagined from the writing of the constitution, in 1958?
Eric Mandonnet: Absolutely. If we really go back to the original text, we know that France is a parliamentary regime in which the president plays an active role. According to Article 8, it is the president who appoints the Prime Minister and the government. But according to Article 20, it is the Prime Minister who determines and conducts the policy of the Nation.
Concretely, what does this mean? When the president and the absolute majority of the Assembly are from the same political side, then it is simple. The president appoints a figure from his party to govern the country and they can roll out their program. On the other hand, when it is another party that has the absolute majority in Parliament, it is obliged to appoint a figure from this other party. This is where there is cohabitation, at the top of the executive.
For further
Mitterrand-Chirac, the secret history of the first cohabitation: secret meetings, emissaries, underhanded blows…
“I will make three speeches per week until the legislative elections”: Emmanuel Macron, his June plan
“He has no qualms, because he has no soul”: Eric Ciotti, the reversals of an opportunist
Matthew Lynn (The Spectator): “RN at Matignon? It would be dramatic for the French economy”