National Assembly: new fierce fight to elect vice-presidents, the hemicycle is already on fire

the essential After the election of Yaël Braun-Pivet as president of the National Assembly the day before, French deputies tackled this Friday, July 19, the distribution of other key positions.

Un "ballot box stuffing"at the Palais Bourbon ? The election of the vice-presidents of the Assembly gave rise to the first passes of arms of the 17th legislature this Friday, July 19, after the  rsquo;cancellation of a vote, due to too large a number of ballots compared to the voters.

At the end of the two rounds, six vice-presidents were elected, including two from France Insoumise but none from the National Rally. The deputies will proceed from 9:30 p.m. to the election of the quaestors and then the secretaries. They all make up the office of the Assembly, its highest executive body.

Two and a half hours after the start of voting operations, twist:"At the end of the counting, it appeared that ten excess envelopes had been placed in the ballot boxes. We will have to redo the ballot as the results resulted in too small differences, declared President Yaël Braun-Pivet (Renaissance), re-elected the day before on the roost.

A parliamentary source told AFP that he had "no precedent in mind" of& ;rsquo;such a situation. "Shame on those who practiced this fraud", thundered in the hemicycle the PS deputy Jérôme Guedj, demanding an investigation and revision of voting procedures. Faced with the press, the elected officials appeared disillusioned. "I'm a little sad about the show we're giving", reacted Jean-René Cazeneuve (Together for the Republic, ex- Renaissance) at the microphone of LCP. "Suspicion regarding ballot stuffing exists", noted the spokesperson for the Republican Right, Vincent Jeanbrun.

After a new vote, four of the six vice-presidents were elected in the first round: the Insoumises Nadège Abomangoli and Clémence Guetté, who will be the first vice-president, the candidate of’ Horizons and outgoing vice-president Naïma Moutchou, and Xavier Breton (Republican Right). In the second round, the resigning Minister of Industry Roland Lescure and the LR deputy Annie Genevard were elected, the RN failing to win its two outgoing vice-presidents, Sébastien Chenu and Hélène Laporte.

"Tactical Strike"

Champion of a balanced representation of each political force in the bodies of the Assembly, Marine Le Pen's group announced that it would vote for Ms. Abomangoli, Guetté, Moutchou, Laporte and MM. Breton and Chenu.

In the press, left-wing deputies tried to decipher "the tactical move" of the RN , in the words of Benjamin Lucas (Ecologist and Social group).

"The RN had lost. What he tried to do there with his pseudo-coup was to hide the fact that they are automatic losers, to suggest that he there could be some backlash, etc.", commented LFI MP Sarah Legrain.

In the hemicycle, the macronie did not fail to note this unexpected support from the RN for La France insoumise. "LFI being elected with the votes of the National Rally, they could at least shake their hands", said the resigning Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin.

"You Macronists have no lessons to give to rebellious France and the New Popular Front. It was you who voted in 2022 to elect vice-presidents of the National Assembly, sharply replied the president of the LFI group Mathilde Panot, in an atmosphere tense, deputies exchanging invectives in the hemicycle.

"Different matches"

The macronie, which in 2022 had granted two vice-presidencies to the RN, in the interest of fair representation of the groups, this time made the choice to come to an agreement with the right to allow the ;election of Yaël Braun-Pivet. Both camps are seeking a number of positions disproportionate to their weight in the Assembly.

The risk for the presidential camp is to alienate all the oppositions, in exchange for an alliance with LR far from ensuring an absolute majority, overall weighing 213 deputies (compared to 289 necessary).

According to consistent sources, the right is also asking for the Finance Committee, which will be held this Saturday, July 20. For this position to go to the Republican Right, the outgoing majority will have to take part in the vote, which is contrary to custom. "A shame", denounced Manuel Bompard of La France Insoumise.

For Emmanuel Macron, this alliance for the perch is the first step towards the constitution of a government which would have the support of the right, which would dampen the hopes of governing of the left.

The leaders of the New Popular Front, however, seemed unwilling to give up on Friday. "These are different matches (between the Assembly and Matignon). We are here, we continue and we believe in it", assured the boss of environmentalists Marine Tondelier on franceinfo.