French legislative election, 1988

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

France

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of France

Constitution Constitution Declaration Human rights Fifth Republic Government President Nicolas Sarkozy List Prime Minister François Fillon List Constitutional Council Parliament National Assembly Senate Congress Judiciary Council of State Court of Cassation Political Parties Political parties Gaullism the Left Elections 1958 presidential 1965 presidential 1969 presidential 1973 legislative 1974 presidential 1978 legislative 1981 presidential 1981 legislative 1986 legislative 1988 presidential 1988 legislative 1993 legislative 1995 presidential 1997 legislative 2002 presidential 2002 legislative 2007 presidential 2007 legislative Subdivisions Regions Departments Foreign Policy Politics of the European Union Foreign relations Minister of Foreign Affairs Related issues Political scandals French Portal

Other countries · Atlas  Politics Portal view • talk • edit

French legislative elections took place on June 5 and 12, 1988 to elect the 9th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic, one month after the re-election of François Mitterrand as President of France.

In 1986, the Socialist Party (PS) of President Mitterrand lost the legislative election. For the first time under the Fifth Republic, President was forced to "cohabit" with an hostile parliamentary majority and cabinet. He chose the RPR leader Jacques Chirac as Prime Minister. The two heads of the executive power were rivals for the 1988 presidential election.

Inspired by the example of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, Chirac campaigned on an aggresively right-wing set of policies (including privatizations, abolition of the solidarity tax on wealth and tightening restrictions on immigration) but he was faced with significant opposition in French society. President Mitterrand presented himself as the protector of national unity. He campaigned for a "united France" and he warned against the appropriation of the state by Chirac's clan. An alliance between the Socialists and the center-right UDF was evoked.

After Mitterrand's re-election, Chirac resigned. Some politicians and commentators suggested to not dissolve the National Assembly and to nominate a UDF Prime minister (Valéry Giscard d'Estaing or Simone Veil). President Mitterrand refused. Indeed, the polls indicated a "pink surge" if new legislative elections were organized. However, he nominated the moderate Socialist Michel Rocard to lead the cabinet and declared that it is unhealthy for democracy if one party holds all the power.

In spite of a very good result in the first round, the "Presidential Majority" (composed of the PS and the Left Radicals) obtained only a relative parliamentary majority after the second round. Indeed, the PS and its allies won 276 seats against 271 for the Republican right-wing coalition and 27 Communists. The re-establishment of the majoritarian two-ballot system resulted in the National Front, which held 35 seats during the previous term, to drop to only one seat.

Some personalities from "civil society" and four UDF politicians participated in the government. They were supported by a minority of their party, which created a new parliamentary group: the Union of Centre. The executive power relied on the "Presidential Majority" which widened towards the Union of Centre or the French Communist Party depending on the policy being advocated by the government.

[edit] Results

[discuss] – [edit]

Parties and coalitions			1st round		2nd round		Total seats
			Votes	%	Votes	%
	Socialist Party (Parti socialiste)	PS	8,493,702	34.77	9,198,778	45.31	260
	French Communist Party (Parti communiste français)	PCF	2,765,761	11.32	695,569	3.43	27
	Miscellaneous Left-wing	DVG	403,690	1.65	421,587	2.08	7
	Movement of Left Radicals (Mouvement des radicaux de gauche)	MRG	272,316	1.11	260,104	1.28	9
	Total Left ("Presidential Majority" and PCF)		11,935,469	48.85	10,576,038	52.10	303
	Rally for the Republic (Rassemblement pour la République)	RPR	4,687,047	19.19	4,688,493	23.09	126
	Union for French Democracy (Union pour la démocratie française)	UDF	4,519,459	18.50	4,299,370	21.18	129
	Miscellaneous Right-wing	DVD	697,272	2.85	522,970	2.58	16
	Total "Union of the Rally and the Center" (Right)		9,903,778	40.54	9,510,833	46.85	271
	National Front (Front national)	FN	2,359,528	9.66	216,704	1.07	1
	Far-Left	EXG	89,065	0.36	-	-	-
	Ecologists	ECO	86,312	0.35	-	-	-
	Far-right	EXD	32,445	0.13	-	-	-
	Regionalists		18,498	0.08	-	-	-
	Total		24,425,095	100.00	20,303,575	100.00	575
Abstention: 34.26% (1st round) 30.11% (2nd round). Note: Two seats vacant after the invalidation of two elections in the Oise département.

[edit] 9^th Assembly by Parliamentary Group

Group		Members	Caucusing	Total
	Socialist Group	258	17	275
	RPR Group	127	3	130
	UDF Group	81	9	90
	Union du Centre Group	34	7	41
	Non-Inscrits	39	0	39
	Total:	557	20	577

Notes:

• 2 vacant seats due to the cancellation of elections in the first and second constituencies of the Oise department.

• A Communist group (24 members + 1 caucusing) was created on July 15, 1988 following the lowering of the threshold to form a group from 30 to 20.

v • d • e  French presidential elections 1848 · 1958 · 1965 · 1969 · 1974 · 1981 · 1988 · 1995 · 2002 · 2007  French parliamentary elections 1795 · 1798 · 1815 · 1816 · 1820 · 1824 · 1827 · 1830 · 1831 · 1834 · 1837 · 1839 · 1842 · 1846 · 1848 · 1849 · 1852 · 1857 · 1863 · 1869 · 1871 (Feb) · 1871 (Jul) · 1876 · 1877 · 1881 · 1885 · 1889 · 1893 · 1898 · 1902 · 1906 · 1910 · 1914 · 1919 · 1924 · 1928 · 1932 · 1936 · 1945 · 1946 (Jun) · 1946 (Nov) · 1951 · 1956 · 1958 · 1962 · 1967 · 1968 · 1973 · 1978 · 1981 · 1986 · 1988 · 1993 · 1997 · 2002 · 2007  French referendums 1793 · 1795 · 1800 · 1802 · 1804 · 1815 · 1851 · 1852 · 1870 · 1945 · 1946 (May) · 1946 (Oct) · 1958 · 1961 · 1962 (Jun) · 1962 (Oct) · 1969 · 1972 · 1988 · 1992 · 2000 · 2005