2 months ago
16
The European nation has been in gridlock after snap polls left the country’s National Assembly without any majority read more
 "Macron-ally Braun-Pivet re-elected as Speaker")
Yaël Braun-Pivet speaks at the national assembly. AFP
As France navigates through a hung parliament, the newly elected MPs have re-elected Yaël Braun-Pivet as the president of the National Assembly. Pivet belongs to French President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist bloc and her appointment is now touted as a breakthrough in the political deadlock.
The European nation has been in gridlock after snap polls left the country’s National Assembly without any majority. On Thursday, Pivet was re-elected to the post with 220 votes in the third round. In a surprise move, the 53-year-old French politician managed to beat leftwing candidate André Chassaigne, who received just 207 votes.
After the snap elections which was called by Macron in June, the seat lower chamber of the French parliament is now divided between three similarly sized blocs. Interestingly, it was the leftwing alliance New Popular Front (NFP) which unexpectedly topped the 7 July runoff.
A major breakthrough
In the snap polls, the NFP fell short of an absolute majority of an absolute majority but still has more than 190 seats in the assembly. Meanwhile, Macron’s camp has 164 lawmakers and the far-right National Rally has 143.
Many consider the election of the speaker as a way to test the waters for possible alliances of convenience – although the secret ballot makes it impossible to say who exactly voted for which candidate in each of the three rounds.
The National Assembly president is mostly responsible for organising and moderating debate but also has some key constitutional powers. The fractious alliance of Socialists, Communists, Greens and the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) wants to run the government but has yet to agree on a prospective candidate for prime minister.
With inputs from AFP.
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
English (US) ·