At the end of her consultation with Emmanuel Macron, the nationalist elected official proposed holding an extraordinary parliamentary session to monitor the actions of the resigning government.
The tangle continues to get tangled. Marine Le Pen, head of the 143 deputies of the National Rally, who until now refused any government including ministers from Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s Insoumis, now refuses any government from the New Popular Front, an alliance of the left. The equation seems blocked, with no existing coalition garnering a majority. Gabriel Attal and his ministers, who have resigned, are therefore condemned to deal with current affairs.
Also readMacron pushes NFP away from Matignon and gives himself more time
A situation that leaves Marine Le Pen circumspect. In order to control the government’s action, she has therefore “requested the opening of an extraordinary parliamentary session”. “I do not want a Prime Minister to be able to implement a policy that is toxic and dangerous for the French people for one month, by decree, by a whole series of means provided for by the Constitution.” she explained on Monday afternoon, after Emmanuel Macron’s consultations at the Élysée.
The power of the President of the Republic
The Parliament “votes on the law, monitors government action and evaluates public policies”provides for article 24 of the Constitution. A role that does not change, even for a resigning government. But the chambers do not sit all year round: “Parliament shall meet as of right in an ordinary session which shall begin on the first working day of October and end on the last working day of June”We then speak of an ordinary parliamentary session.
However, the Prime Minister or the majority of the members of the National Assembly may request the holding of an extraordinary parliamentary session. “on a specific agenda”. This session ends when Parliament “has exhausted the agenda for which it was convened and no later than twelve days from its meeting”, dispose l’article 29.
This decision is enacted by a decree of the President of the Republic, who can therefore also refuse to convene Parliament. In 1960, General de Gaulle had thus rejected the request of the deputies. Emmanuel Macron could do the same, at the risk of attracting the wrath of the opposition.
The meeting of an extraordinary parliamentary session is not strictly speaking… extraordinary. It can take place to sign an international treaty on time, or to finalize a budget. Thus, on September 11, 2023, Parliament met to examine the public finance programming bill and the approval of an agreement between France and Canada to deploy in-flight security agents.
Determining a possible agenda would surely give rise to tough negotiations between the political parties. However, they can request the opening of an extraordinary parliamentary session to vote on a motion of censure of the government. The latter would have to gather a tenth of the members of the National Assembly to be presented, then the majority to be adopted. France would then no longer have a government. And the tangle would continue to tangle.
”
data-script=”https://static.lefigaro.fr/widget-video/short-ttl/video/index.js”
>
