Presidency of the National Assembly: Yaël Braun-Pivet keeps the lead in an unenthusiastic assembly

Re-elected as president of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet counts 220 votes. EPA – TERESA SUAREZ

Re-elected as president of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet counts 220 votes. EPA – TERESA SUAREZ

The outgoing president, from the presidential majority, wins by a narrow margin, facing André Chassaigne and Sébastien Chenu. After three rounds as unique as they are endless. At the end of a thrilling election but which raises fears of numerous blockages to come.

Three turns and then… It was the outgoing Yaël Braun-Pivet who won by a very narrow margin. After a vote that was tighter than ever. And a day of suspense like the National Assembly has rarely experienced.

After a studious day where negotiations went well between the different parties, the president of the presidential majority felt the wind whistling very close to her ears. After listening to the dean of the lower house, José Gonzales, 81, of the National Rally, welcoming the parliamentarians who had come to nominate their president, we entered the ballot for a first round and six candidates.

André Chassaigne leads in the first round

The first round was quite unusual and rather less agreed than expected. The communist André Chassaigne, sole candidate of the New Popular Front, took the lead with 200 votes. Sébastien Chenu's RN was full: 142 votes. Yaël Braun-Pivet, the outgoing president, only collected 124… And a little humiliation with it. An affront for the one who hoped for better from the first round, as evidenced by the pout she made when the results were announced. On the right, Philippe Juvin filled his camp with 48 votes and Naïma Moutchou, the philippist from Horizons, 38 votes. Both abdicated in the first vote, suggesting a good postponement for the candidate of the presidential majority.

Time for the second round for four candidates. The trend was reversing. This time, it was Yaël Braun-Pivet who took the lead with 210 votes. Eight votes more than André Chassaigne (202). 143 votes for the RN, as expected. But above all, 12 small votes for the independent Charles de Courson who, in turn, threw in the towel. Regretting at the microphone of LCP "that arrangements between parties in return for positions […] do not lead to this result".

Negotiations with the right

Because in the aisles of the hemicycle, numerous rumors were buzzing about a tacit understanding with the right of Laurent Wauquiez which would have greatly increased the stakes to allow Yaël Braun-Pivet to go ahead. Some observers, cited by l’Opinion even spoke of "benevolence" and seven positions on the Assembly’s organizational chart. Enough to make the opposition roar, in particular the rebellious Héraultais Nathalie Oziol, who regretted "unworthy agreements that the voters will make them pay for".< /em>