The ballot boxes have delivered their verdict. This Sunday, June 19, 2022, the French and French were responsible for electing the 577 deputies who will represent them in the National Assembly for the next five years.
While the New People’s Ecological and Social Union (Nupes) rejoices in being the first opposition force and the National Rally (RN) celebrates its historic breakthrough, the coalition of parties that support Emmanuel Macron, Together!, will not have of an absolute majority (289 seats minimum) at the Palais Bourbon.
Here are the results of this second round of the 2022 legislative elections:
Despite its 245 seats obtained, the presidential coalition won only a relative majority in the National Assembly, which will not allow the government to apply its bills without convincing at least 44 opposition deputies.
A delicate situation for Emmanuel Macron but also for the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne.
On the eve of the elections, the head of state had been clear: the losing ministers of the legislative elections will have to leave their posts. The Prime Minister narrowly escaped this hasty departure from Matignon. Opposed to Noé Gauchard in the sixth constituency of Calvados, she won the second round with 52.46% of the vote.
As tradition dictates, the head of government handed in her “courtesy resignation” to Emmanuel Macron. A request refused by the President of the Republic “so that the government remains on task”, announces the Elysée.
However, the place of Elisabeth Borne in Matignon is not assured, in particular because of the power of the opposition to the presidential coalition at the Bourbon palace.
With this upheaval in the National Assembly and the absence of an absolute presidential majority, the entire government and the Prime Minister are directly threatened. Indeed, the opposition groups have a weapon to force Elisabeth Borne and her ministers to leave their functions: the motion of censure.
“To table a motion, an opposition group must be made up of at least 58 deputies. This is the case of the Nupes (137 elected), the RN (89 elected) and the Republicans (69 elected with their allies from the UDi and the Centrists)”, recalls La Dépêche. For it to succeed, it must obtain at least 289 votes “for”.
The day after the second round, the LFI deputy, Eric Coquerel announced that his political party was going to initiate a spontaneous motion of censure “from July 5 (day of the Prime Minister’s general policy speech before the Assembly) against the team Borne”, indicates La Dépêche.
Faced with this crisis situation, Emmanuel Macron and Elisabeth Borne should quickly announce a reshuffle.
The rule was known to all. By losing the legislative elections, the ministers must also leave their functions. Here are the three officials concerned by this directive from the President of the Republic:
To replace them as soon as possible, government spokeswoman Olivia Grégoire announced on France Inter that a reshuffle was planned very soon: “We do not intend to leave a government where a certain number of posts are missing. I think that given the urgency to act and the determination of the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister, we are talking here in days rather than weeks.
As soon as the President of the Republic has fulfilled his international obligations (European Council, G7 and NATO summit), he will be able to get down to forming political alliances by integrating certain members of the opposition into “the enlarged government”. For the time being, portfolios such as housing, digital or veterans are still unassigned.
