How political “cohabitation” works in France

UNDER THE modern French republic, founded by Charles de Gaulle in 1958, elections to the country’s presidency and parliament take place at different votes. Since the constitution was updated in 2000 to shorten the presidential term from seven years to five, the parliamentary election has been held a couple of months after the presidential poll. From 2002 to 2022, at five successive legislative elections, this delivered a government of the same political stripe as the president. France’s upcoming parliamentary election on June 30th and July 7th, however, may well lead to another spell of what is known as “cohabitation”. This could be under Marine Le Pen’s hard-right National Rally (RN), or the newly formed hard-left New Popular Front. What is cohabitation, and how does it work?

France has undergone three periods of cohabitation since 1958, each time between the Socialists and the Gaullist right: François Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac (1986-88), Mitterrand and Edouard Balladur (1993-95), and Chirac and Lionel Jospin (1997-2002). In theory the constitution is clear about the separation of roles. The government “determines and conducts” national policy. The president is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and “guarantor of national independence”, and negotiates international affairs. These days, the president also attends summits of the European Council, which bring together heads of the 27 European Union countries.