French legislative election, 2012

The parliamentary election in France in 2012 were scheduled for June 10 and 17 and led to the choice of the 14 National Assembly of the Fifth Republic of France. Only slightly more than a month earlier, the French 2012 presidential election took place, the ballot - date was scheduled for May 6, 2012, and from the socialist François Hollande emerged victorious. Elected were now 577 members from all parts of the country, even from the overseas territories. From the election went the Socialist Party of Hollande as the clear winner out, missed with 280 seats but just the absolute majority (289 seats); with its closest ally, the Parti radical de gauche (12 seats), but reached the PS absolute majority. This feature Hollande and the Socialists and their allies a majority in both houses of parliament, at least until the next Senate election in September 2014.

Special features of the current election

• Loss of a seat
• Loss of two seats
• Loss of three seats
• Profit from a seat
• Gain of two seats

The elections were marked by two innovations. The constituencies were re- divided with regard to demographic change in the country. However, the total number of parliamentary seats remains unchanged. By law, the number of inhabitants per department should reflect the number of seats to be elected each department, which in the last election in 2007 but could not be observed: So in the last election had a voice of a resident in the department of Lozère more weight than three votes of voters in the department of Bouches -du -Rhône, three votes in Saône -et -Loire corresponded to five on La Réunion. One study pointed out that the number of seats of the center-right coalition would face the seats of the left to increase by about two percent, or nine seats under the UMP by the reallocation for the same voters vote.

Second, the 1.5 million French were allowed in this election for the first time to participate outside of France under Article 24 of the Constitution, as revised in 2008 in the election and in eleven seats. In the past, these French citizens were represented only by parliamentary twelve senators by the Assembly of French people abroad ( Assemblée des Français de l' étranger (AFE )) were selected. The twelve senators remain unchanged. For the election of the eleven seats in the National Assembly eleven constituencies were formed, each comprising several states. Switzerland and Liechtenstein are the sixth constituency, Germany and Austria are among other states for the seventh constituency.

In each constituency, a deputy was elected. In the first round was chosen who had reached more than half of the valid votes cast, provided that his votes was at least 25% of the number of electors in the constituency. Was not a candidate elected in the first ballot, later (June 17 ), a second ballot was held one week. At this, the candidates were able to participate after the first ballot submitted their candidacy declaration until Tuesday and whose votes had to be at least 12.5 % of the number of electors in the constituency in the first ballot. Achieved this hurdle no or only one candidate, the two candidates with the most votes in the first ballot were on the second ballot to participate ( runoff ). In the second ballot, a simple majority is sufficient.

Parties and campaigns

Candidates who had one of the 44 registered at the French Ministry of the Interior parties connected could get the benefit of a state party financing. A total of 6611 candidates were registered, including 2641 (40 %) women.

The standing for election major parties are essentially the same as in the presidential election:

• Union pour un mouvement populaire (UMP ) - conservative
• Nouveau Centre ( NC) - centrist - liberal
• Parti Socialiste (PS ) - social democratic
• Parti Radical de Gauche ( PRG) - leftish
• Europe Écologie -Les Verts ( EELV ) - Green
• Mouvement démocrate ( MoDem ) - centrist - liberal ( started as a Centre pour la France )
• Front National (FN) - nationalist
• Front de gauche (FDG ) - left socialist- communist

On May 12, announced Jean- Luc Mélenchon, the former presidential candidate of the left-wing radical Front de gauche to compete in the eleventh constituency of the department of Pas -de- Calais as a candidate. In this constituency also a candidate Marine Le Pen, president of the National Front. On 18 May 2012, the Front de gauche also announced that they wished to withdraw (seventh constituency in the department of Moselle and the first constituency in the Aube department ) their candidates in two constituencies, not the success of a candidate from the left of the spectrum due to excessive fragmentation of votes to compromise.

Most opinion polls before the election predicted a victory for the left parties.

Despite a vote share of 17.9 % in the first round of the previous presidential election in April 2012, it was due to the electoral system by no means improbable that the National Front would not get a single one of the 577 parliamentary seats. The same was true also for démocrate Mouvement whose candidate received 9.1% of votes in the presidential election. The Green Party had, however, with the PS an election agreement is concluded, after forgo the Socialists in 60 constituencies to establishing a candidate of their own and want to support the candidate of the Green Party, so this at least 15 MPs seemed almost certain. This was the minimum number for the formation of a group in the National Assembly.

Results

• Parti Socialiste (PS ) - 22
• Parti Communiste réunionnais (PCR ) - 1
• Parti Radical de Gauche ( PRG) - 1
• Union pour un mouvement populaire (UMP ) - 7
• Mouvement pour la France (MPF ) - 1
• Parti radical (PR ) - 2
• Europe Écologie -Les Verts ( EELV ) - 1
• Nouveau Centre ( NC) - 1

• Alliance centriste / Centre pour la France / Nouveau Centre
• Various bourgeois parties
• Parti Socialiste / Divers gauche / Parti radical / Parti radical de gauche
• Europe- Ecologie -Les Verts / Ecological candidates
• National Front / extreme rights
• Front de gauche / Extreme Left
• Union pour un mouvement populaire / Various bourgeois parties
• Regionalists
• Other
• Election between 3 candidates

• Front de Gauche (FG)
• Parti Socialiste (PS )
• Parti Radical de Gauche ( PRG)
• Various left
• Europe Écologie -Les Verts ( EELV )
• Other
• Mouvement démocrate ( MoDem )
• Nouveau Centre ( NC)
• Parti radical valoisien ( PRV )
• Various rights
• Union pour un mouvement populaire (UMP )
• Extreme rights

In the first round reached a total of 36 candidates, the absolute majority of votes in their constituency and were thereby selected. These 36 MPs were among 22 candidates of the Socialist Party. In the second ballot, a second ballot in the remaining 541 constituencies took place. The voters had to decide in 495 constituencies between two candidates and in 46 constituencies between three candidates.

Quite a stir in the French press caught before the second round of the guerre des roses ( War of the Roses ) between the ex- girlfriend of French President and mother of his four children, Segolene Royal and its now to partner Valerie Trierweiler. By the Socialist Party Royal had been in the supposedly safe constituency 1 (La Rochelle ) of the department of Charente -Maritime erected as a candidate. After the election, she was provided for the office of President of Parliament. However, not all socialist politicians were there agree with this candidate decreed from Paris and asked Olivier Falorni as a local socialist opponent, who was then promptly excluded from the PS. Statewide explosiveness was the matter, when it became known that Trierweiler on Twitter Falorni " good luck " had vowed in his campaign and his " selfless commitment on the side of the people of La Rochelle ."

In the second ballot stood in 22 constituencies a candidate of the left-wing radical Front de gauche to choice and in 61 constituencies was a candidate of the right-wing National Front enters the second round.

The turnout in the second round was only about 56 % and thus not as low as for many years more. The left-wing parties won a total of 341 seats, with the Parti Socialiste with its closest ally, the Parti radical de gauche alone won an absolute majority (292 of 577 seats ).

Two candidates of the National Front were elected, for a Marion Marechal - Le Pen, the 22 -year-old granddaughter of Jean -Marie Le Pen and niece of Marine Le Pen with 42.1% of votes in the third constituency of Vaucluse and Gilbert Collard with 42, 8 % of the votes in the second constituency of Gard. Marine Le Pen himself, however, lost the duel against the Socialist opposition candidate Philippe Kemel in the 11th electoral district of Pas -de- Calais with 49.9 to 50.1 % (her prominent challenger Jean -Luc Mélenchon was eliminated after the first ballot). Ségolène Royal was defeated 37.0 % to 63.0 % of the vote against their non-party, former socialist opposition candidate Olivier Falorni. François Bayrou, the party leader of the Mouvement démocrate / Le Centre pour la France lost 30.2 % of the vote his constituency in the department of Pyrénées- Atlantiques, which he had held continuously since 1988, in a three-way duel MoDem - PS- UMP to the candidate of the Socialists.

Overall, the election result was a great victory for the Socialist Party and its allies ( EELV, Divers gauche, Parti radical de gauche ). In the National Assembly President François Hollande thus had a comfortable Majorité présidentielle of 331 deputies ( 57.4 %). The conservative- bourgeois and liberal camp (UMP, Divers droite, Nouveau Centre, Parti radical valoisien, Alliance centriste, Mouvement démocrate ) came to 231 seats (40.0 %). The National Front won 2 and the Communist Front de gauche 10 seats.

Redials

Due to successful election challenges canceled the French Constitutional Court, the Conseil Constitutionel, on 18 and 24 October the election results in three constituencies. This affected the 6th constituency of Hérault (Decision No. 2012-4590 ), the first electoral district of Val -de- Marne ( Decision No 2012-4565/4567/4568/4574/4575/4576/4577 AN) and the 13th electoral district of Hauts -de -Seine (Decision No. 2012-4563/4600 AN). Two deputies of the UMP and the PS deputies thereby lost their parliamentary seats. In the three constituencies in December 2012, elections were held in which each could enforce the candidate of the UMP.

Cabinet

See also Political System of France

On the day of his inauguration May 15, 2012 Hollande Jean- Marc Ayrault appointed prime minister. Ayrault presented on 15 May 2012, a transitional government. This transitional government held office only up to the general election in June 2012. According to the second round on June 17, 2012 Ayrault took a day later back together with his government. Immediately after Hollande Ayrault again appointed Prime Minister. On June 21, 2012 Ayrault presented his new government (Cabinet Ayrault II), which remained largely unchanged.