France, Still Without a Government
While the left seems to have lost the battle for government formation, it does not intend to lose it in Parliament. As France still lacks a Prime Minister, some politicians are relying on the legislative process to continue their fight and are thus calling for an end to the vacation for deputies.
In a statement released on Wednesday, August 28, the Democratic and Republican Left group, which brings together the Communist deputies in the National Assembly, called on the President of the Republic to “quickly convene” an extraordinary session. This request was already made by Marine Le Pen on Monday, following her meeting with Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée.
“The National Assembly Must Take the Reins Again”
In their text, the Communists believe that “the National Assembly must take the reins again and get to work without further delay,” in order to “deliberate as quickly as possible on the NFP’s bill proposals demanded by voters.”
For Marine Le Pen, this session would mainly allow the upcoming government’s actions to be monitored and possibly censured: “I don’t want a Prime Minister, during a month, to be able to, by decree or by other means provided by the Constitution, implement a policy that is toxic and dangerous for the French,” insisted the president of the National Rally group of deputies on Monday, August 26, after meeting Emmanuel Macron.
An Ordinary Session Scheduled for October 1
Indeed, without this convening, deputies are not expected to return to the benches of the chamber until October 1, as required by Article 28 of the Constitution. Outside of this ordinary session, which ends on the last day of June, there are two ways to convene an extraordinary session: “at the request of the Prime Minister or the majority of the members of the National Assembly, with a specific agenda,” as stipulated in Article 29.
But what can be done without a Prime Minister in office? “In the current situation, and without precedent, we don’t know at all if a resigning government can request the opening of an extraordinary session,” explains Benjamin Morel, a lecturer in public law at Paris Panthéon-Assas University, to Public Sénat. However, deputies should still be able to overcome their differences to jointly request a decree to convene an extraordinary session from Emmanuel Macron.
