Electing the new French National Assembly president: Why is it important and what is at stake?

euronews (in English)

On Thursday, the newly elected 577 MPs in France's National Assembly will elect the president of the lower house of parliament. This vote could be decisive in nominating the country's future prime minister.

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00:00Since no progress has been made in finding a name for France's future Prime Minister,

00:05the left-wing coalition, the NFP, New Popular Front,

00:08that won the most seats in France's legislative election,

00:11has now focused all of its energies in finding a common candidate

00:17for the presidency of the French National Assembly this Wednesday evening.

00:21And this left-wing alliance composed of the hard-left party, the France Unbowed,

00:25socialists, the Greens, and the Communist Party

00:28have come together and finally picked a name,

00:31and that's the name of André Chassé,

00:33and he is the leader of the Communist Party in the National Assembly,

00:36to represent them in Thursday's vote.

00:39And this vote is going to be quite a high-stakes one

00:42that really will determine the balance of powers

00:44between these three main political blocs in the National Assembly.

00:48So you have the NFP, followed by the presidential camp,

00:51and then the far-right national rally.

00:55And the president of the National Assembly is considered

00:57the fourth most important person in the French government,

01:01and he or she will, for example, lead the debates in the chamber.

01:07To be elected, a candidate must get an absolute majority of votes

01:11from the 577 MPs in the French National Assembly

01:15in either the first or second round.

01:18If that's not the case, then a third round is organized

01:21where a candidate to win must obtain a relative majority of votes.

01:26So why is Thursday's vote so important then for France?

01:30Well, it might determine who will be the next prime minister,

01:34and that's because this election will provide the first elements

01:38of what sorts of alliances are currently forming within the National Assembly.

01:43And if the left-wing coalition fails to elect one of theirs

01:47as president of the National Assembly,

01:49then this could give an excuse to President Emmanuel Macron

01:52not to nominate a left-wing minister.

01:56He could claim, for example, that it will not represent the vote

02:00of the French MPs in the National Assembly,

02:03since logically the French president of the National Assembly

02:08as well as the prime minister should come from the same political party.

02:13Sofia Katsenkova reporting from Paris for Euronews.

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