Start of Voting
Voting began today to choose who will hold the presidency of the French National Assembly. The process began at three in the afternoon with the presentation of the candidates and the results of the first round were announced at 5 p.m.
Uncertain result
None of the candidates has won an absolute majority, so a second vote is being held. The chamber is deeply divided and this makes the outcome of the vote uncertain. The results could reveal the structure of a possible government coalition, opening the possibility that the presidency of the chamber will be occupied by someone who is not tied to the parties in coalition for the formation of the government.
Opening of the Seventeenth Legislature
The opening of the seventeenth legislature was presided over by the oldest deputy, José Gonzalez, deputy of Marine Le Pen’s National Regroupment. Accompanied by six other secretaries of the table, the six youngest deputies participated in this ceremony.
Candidates and Results of the First Round
The candidates who aspire to the presidency are diverse, including the communist André Chassaigne, the outgoing president Yaël Braun-Pivet, the centrist Charles de Courson, Philippe Juvin, Sébastien Chenu and Naïma Moutchou. In the first round, the results were as follows: André Chassaigne (200 votes); Sébastien Chenu (142); Yaël Braun-Pivet (124); Philippe Juvin (48); Naïma Moutchou (38); Charles de Courson (18).
Curiosity of the Session
In this legislature, the 577 deputies of the National Assembly have been seated in alphabetical order, making the session even more interesting. Among the deputies who participated, the arrival of the former socialist president François Hollande, who has become a new deputy, stood out.
Speech by José Gonzalez
José Gonzalez has previously caused controversy for his comments about French Algeria. In the opening speech of this legislature, he defined himself as a “Frenchman born under the sun of another continent who learned, with his terrifying uprooting, the meaning of the word fatherland”.
Criticism of President Macron
Coinciding with the opening of the legislature, the leader of the French Socialist Party, Olivier Faure, has accused President Emmanuel Macron of sowing the
chaos in the political scene to try to avoid appointing a prime minister from the left, the bloc with the most deputies in the last elections. Faure has affirmed that the president must guarantee democracy and not create chaos continuously.
