French National Assembly

[Sheikh Arham]

By the Constitution of 1875, the Third Republic of France established a bicameral Parliament consisting of two assemblies: the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, known today as the National Assembly. The National Assembly is the principal legislative body of the French Republic. It passes laws, monitors government action and evaluate public policies.

The National Assembly conducts its legislative sessions in the prestigious Palais Bourbon (7th arrondissement of Paris). The lower house tends to specialize in the scrutiny of day-to-day government business: public liberties, crime, taxation, education, law, the budget and national defence. As the principal legislative body, the National Assembly can overrule the Senate in the case of a disagreement as it has the final say.

The lower house of Parliament consists of 577 seats for its members called « deputes ». A depute represents his/her constituency which totaled approximately 100,000 inhabitants. 539 deputes represent Metropolitan France, 27 the overseas departments and territories, and 11 French residents living outside of France. The deputes are elected by popular vote to five-year terms. The president of the National Assembly is elected by secret ballot at the beginning of the legislative session. The President of the Republic can dissolve the Assembly by calling for new elections.

How are deputes elected? About the legislative elections in France Theoretically the French legislative elections take place every 5 years (June 2017, June 2022). There are two rounds of voting in elections for the deputes of the National Assembly. A candidate must receive more than 50 percent of the first vote to be elected after the first round. If no candidate receives 50 percent, a second round must be organized. Those with more than 12.5 percent of the votes in the first round take part to the second round. To be eligible a candidate must be at least 23 years old and of French citizenship. He/she must not be subject to a sentence of deprivation of civil rights or to personal bankruptcy. The Legislative initiative of the National Assembly The MPs and the Government are entitled to initiate legislation: Member’s Bills for the deputes and senators, Government Bills for the Government. They can either pass a new bill or vote the amendment of an existing law. During the debate, the Constitutional Council or either chamber of parliament may amend the bill.

The National Assembly is charged with the important task of governmental monitoring. A great amount of its resources is devoted to reviewing and monitoring the actions of the executive branch. Most oversight responsibilities fall on the Assembly, which can pass votes of no confidence and censure government officials. At 3pm on Wednesday afternoon, the deputes can ask written or oral questions to ministers. This session is called Questions to the Government.