Journal elections: cohabitation

Journal elections: cohabitation

The problem of possible cohabitation after the general elections is considered from the point of view of constitutional law and in the light of the positions of previous presidents of the republic. Cohabitation affects the relationship between the president and the parliamentary majority, especially in the choice of the prime minister. The political scientist René REMOND analyses the reactions of François Mitterrand and Georges Pompidou when they were confronted with this choice. The constitution does not impose any obligation on the head of state, but in order to prevent the parliament from overthrowing the government it is desirable that it choose a personality accepted by the parliamentarians. If François Mitterrand, said that he could appoint the prime minister he wanted, Georges Pompidou qualified his statement by saying: "The president of the republic takes into account the composition of the Assembly, but is not a slave to it". Quotes from the two Presidents are transcribed in the image with infographics.

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File : National Assembly: republican institution

Publication date : 18 February 1986