French legislative election, 1973
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French legislative elections took place on March 4 and 11, 1973 to elect the 5th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic.
In order to end the May 68 crisis, President De Gaulle dissolved the National Assembly and his party, the UDR, obtained the absolute majority of the seats. Nevertheless, the failure of his 1969 referendum caused his resignation. His former Prime minister Georges Pompidou was elected President of France.
In order to respond to the discontent expressed during May 68, Jacques Chaban-Delmas, the left-wing Gaullist who led the cabinet, promoted a programme of reforms for the advent of a "New Society", which advocated social dialogue and political liberalisation. This worried the conservative part of the Presidential Majority and Pompidou himself. Futhemore, Chaban-Delmas was accused, by the presidential circle, to want strengthen his powers to the detriment of Pompidou. In 1972, Chaban-Delmas is replaced by Pierre Messmer, a classical and conservative Gaullist.
After Gaston Defferre's catastrophic result in the 1969 presidential election, the SFIO was replaced by the Socialist Party (PS), formed by the SFIO's merger with an array of political clubs on the democratic left. Two years later, François Mitterrand's Convention of Republican Institutions joined the PS. He took the party's lead during the Epinay Congress, and proposed to form an alliance with the French Communist Party (PCF). In order to prepare the legislative elections, Communists and Socialists signed the Common Programme.
The Radical Party split over the question of the Common Programme. The left-wing minority joined the "Union of Left" and founded the Movement of the Radical-Socialist Left (MGRS). The majority created the Reforming Movement with a part of the center-right. This new group claimed its independence towards the "Union of Left" and the Presidential Majority.
The Common Programme was the main issue of the campaign. Its defenders pleaded the necessity to nationalize banks and companies which were in a situation of monopoly. The members of the Presidential Majority denounced a collectivist project and warned against the participation of Communists in the government if the Left won. The Reforming Movement tried to express a third way rejecting the Marxism of the Left and the Euroscepticism of the Gaullists. But, it was obliged to link with the Right to obtain parliamentary seats.
Whilst the left won an increased number of votes and MPs, the Presidential Majority won the election. The Gaullist UDR lost one third of its parliamentary seats due to the growth of the Left and electoral agreements with its allies, the Independent Republicans and Centre, Democracy and Progress. Messmer was confirmed as Prime Minister.
[edit] Results
| Parties and coalitions | Abbr. | Votes (1st round) | % (1st round) | Seats (2nd round) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Union of Democrats for the Republic (Union des démocrates pour la République) | UDR | 5 788 796 | 23.9 | 184 | |
| Reforming Movement (Mouvement réformateur) | MR | 3 015 372 | 12.4 | 31 | |
| Independent Republicans (Républicains indépendants) | RI | 1 674 772 | 6.9 | 54 | |
| Miscellaneous Right-wing | DVD | 972 623 | 4.0 | 19 | |
| Centre, Democracy and Progress (Centre, démocratie et progrès) | CDP | 906 136 | 3.9 | 23 | |
| Total Right ("Presidential Majority" and MR) | 12 357 699 | 50.9 | 311 | ||
| French Communist Party (Parti communiste français) | PCF | 5 156 619 | 21.3 | 73 | |
| Socialist Party (Parti socialiste) | PS | 4 579 888 | 18.9 | 89 | |
| Movement of the Radical-Socialist Left (Mouvement de la gauche radicale-socialiste) | MGRS | 674 319 | 2.8 | 12 | |
| Unified Socialist Party (Parti socialiste unifié) | PSU | 489 353 | 2.0 | 3 | |
| Total "Union of Left" | 10 900 179 | 44.9 | 177 | ||
| Miscellaneous | 562 850 | 2.3 | - | ||
| Far Left | 321 292 | 1.3 | - | ||
| National Front (Front national) | FN | 122 000 | 0.5 | - | |
| Total | 24 264 020 | 100 | 488 | ||
| Abstention: 18.8 (1st round); 18.1 (2nd round) | |||||
[edit] 5th National Assembly by Parliamentary Group
| Group | Members | Caucusing | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UDR Group | 162 | 20 | 180 | |
| Socialist Party and Left Radical Party Group | 100 | 2 | 102 | |
| Communist Group | 73 | 0 | 73 | |
| Independent Republicans Group | 73 | 0 | 73 | |
| RDS Group | 30 | 4 | 30 | |
| Centrist Union Group | 30 | 0 | 30 | |
| Non-Inscrits | 13 | 0 | 13 | |
| Total: | 459 | 31 | 490 | |
- The Centrist Union group later joined the RDS group.
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