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Election Date: June 16, 2007

At stake: National Assembly

Background

France's recent history is closely tied to the role the country played during World War II and after. France failed to repel Nazi Germany, at some point joined by Italy, and by 1940 it was invaded. On Jun. 22, Paris marshal Henri Philippe Pétain signed an armistice with the Germans. Pétain became the chief of what was called Vichy France, the non-occupied part of France, where he governed as a puppet for the Nazi regime.

In August 1944, the allied troops liberated France. General Charles de Gaulle, who had been leading the resistance of the "Free French" from London, was then appointed as head of the provisional government. On Dec. 24, 1946, the Fourth Republic was inaugurated. That same year, France, now known as the French Union, joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). While France engaged in decolonization processes in Africa, De Gaulle was elected president in 1958. The country was relatively stable until the late 1960s.

In May 1968, massive demonstrations led by students and factory workers turned into a series of violent rallies. The following years saw a conservative France rising—economically speaking—until socialist François Mitterrand won by a wide margin the 1981 presidential ballot. Mitterrand was a key figure during the years in which France became what, still today, many call an over-protective State. Ever since 1968, France's politics have been struggling to find the balance between protectionism, labour rights—what the French call les acquis—and open-market policies.

Mitterrand's legacy includes his participation in the successful draft that later became the Maastricht Treaty, the document upon which the European Union (EU) was assembled to replace the European Community; he also secured close economic and security ties for France with the EU.

Among current issues in France is an increasing tension with immigrant populations, especially in the banlieues, suburbs of bigger cities. In the international arena, France still holds important power as one of five permanent members of the United Nations (UN) Security Council, and one of Western Europe's strongest economies.

Jacques Chirac of the conservative Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) won the presidential ballot in 1995, and was re-elected in a run-off over far-right, ultranationalist Jean-Marie Le Pen in May 2002. Chirac grew highly unpopular by the end of his term.

On Apr. 22, a vast majority of French eligible voters participated in the first round of presidential election voting.

Click here for the France's 2007 Presidential Election First Round Election Tracker

Final results put Nicolas Sarkozy of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) in first place with 31.18 per cent of the vote, followed by Ségolène Royal of the Socialist Party (PS) with 25.87 per cent, Union for French Democracy (UDF) leader François Bayrou with 18.57 per cent, and Jean-Marie Le Pen of the National Front (FN) with 10.44 per cent.

Since no candidate garnered more than 50 per cent of the vote, a run-off featuring the top two vote-getters took place on May 6.

Click here for the France's 2007 Presidential Election Second Round Election Tracker

Final results gave Sarkozy 53.06 per cent of all cast ballots. Turnout for the second round was tabled at 84 per cent.

2007 National Assembly Elections

France's political landscape includes six main political parties. Nicolas Sarkozy is the leader of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), France's main right-wing party. Before the 2002 presidential campaign, the supporters of French president Jacques Chirac, who were divided in three right-wing parliamentary parties, founded an association named Union on the Move (Union en mouvement). After Chirac's re-election, in order to prepare the legislative elections, the Union for the Presidential Majority (UMP) was created. Shortly after, it was re-named as Union for a Popular Movement.

UMP members control the National Assembly, and are partnered with the centrist Union for French Democracy (UDF) in the Senate. The UMP is both a member of the European People's Party (EPP) and the International Democrat Union (IDU). The party defends economic conservatism and neo-conservative policies. The UMP enjoys a comfortable majority in the 577-member National Assembly, with 357 seats won in the 2002 legislative election.

The Socialist Party (PS) is one of France's largest political organizations. It replaced the French section of the Worker's International in 1969. The PS's most prominent politician was François Mitterrand, who won the 1981 presidential election and governed for 14 years. From June 1997 to May 2002, the PS headed the government with Lionel Jospin as prime minister. François Hollande currently leads the PS, which stands by social democracy. The PS is affiliated with the Party of European Socialists (PES) and Socialist International. The PS is currently the second-largest force in the Assembly, with 141 seats.

The UDF is a centrist political party founded in 1978 after several christian-democratic and liberal organizations decided to merge. Now, the UDF is a single entity, after the defection of Republicans, Radicals and most Christian Democrats mostly to the UMP. François Bayrou has been the UDF's leader since 1998. The UDF secured 4.9 per cent of the vote in 2002, and has 29 members in the Assembly.

The Greens (Verts) have been led by Cécile Duflot since 2006. The ecologist party stands at the left of France's political landscape, and its main goal is to advocate for environmentalism. The party was founded in 1982 and is affiliated with the European Greens. In the 2002 National Assembly ballot, the Greens received 4.5 per cent of the vote and elected three lawmakers.

The French Communist Party (PCF) is led by general-secretary Marie-George Buffet. The party has lost support over the past two decades, but still attracts a large portion of the left-wing voters and has a large membership base. The PCF was founded in 1921, and is a member of the European Left. The party was one of the many left-wing organizations that successfully campaigned against the ratification of the European Constitution in 2005. The PCF won 21 seats in the Assembly in the 2002 legislative election.

The National Front (FN), a far-right nationalist party, gained momentum in the 2002 presidential election, when leader Jean-Marie Le Pen made it to the run-off against Chirac. Le Pen founded the FN in 1972. The controversial party maintains a staunch anti-immigration stance, and its leader has been accused of denying the Jewish holocaust during World War II. In standardized pamphlets delivered to French electors in 1995, Le Pen actually proposed "sending back (.) three million non-Europeans" who resided in France, by "humane and dignified means." Despite receiving 11.2 per cent of the vote in 2002, the FN has no representatives in the legislature.

The legislative election is scheduled for Jun. 10 and Jun. 17. Under France's electoral system, a candidate must garner more than 50 per cent of the vote in his or her constituency in order to earn a National Assembly seat on the first round. If this is not the case, every candidate with at least 12.5 per cent of the vote—or the top two vote-getters in each constituency—qualify for the second round, where a simple plurality is enough to win.

Newly-elected president Sarkozy said he plans to call for a special National Assembly session to set off his package of radical reforms, most of them concerning the economy.

On May 10, Bayrou explained his rationale for the creation of the Democratic Movement (MD), saying, "Nothing can be more important than building a free, anti-establishment force in France." On the same day, 21 of the 29 current UDF lawmakers in the National Assembly joined a "centrist" faction of the governing UMP.

Sarkozy's inauguration took place on May 16. In his first speech as president of France, Sarkozy declared he would lead the country into a new era both socially and economically, saying, "France needs to take risks and needs to take initiative." Sarkozy also said he would "make the defence of human rights and the struggle against global warming priorities of France's diplomatic action in the world."

On May 17, Sarkozy appointed François Fillon as his prime minister. Fillon had been his adviser in the UMP for over two years, and was also Sarkozy's presidential campaign leader.

On May 21, Sarkozy met with representatives from nine environmental groups and declared it is "time for action" to tackle global warming. The president said after the meeting that an environmental conference will take place in October involving other actors and industries, adding, "We will not agree on all subjects. There will be points of divergence, but I don't want difficult subjects to be dodged."

On May 24, Le Pen said he will retain his position despite calls for his resignation after he finished fourth in the first round of the presidential election with 10.44 per cent of the vote. Le Pen told reporters: "There will be a congress in November and I will then present my candidacy. (...) The head of the National Front remains uncontested for the time being."

On May 29, defeated PS presidential candidate Ségolène Royal appeared in public for the first time since the day of the run-off. Royal said she would lead her party into a good performance in the legislative election, saying, "We will construct the new opposition that France needs." The former candidate declined to comment on what role she will play within the PS after the ballot.

Polls conducted in late May by TNS Sofres and Ifop showed the UMP in first place, followed by a coalition of centre-left parties including the PS.

On May 24, MD founder Bayrou criticized Sarkozy's appointment of his deputy campaign manager—Laurent Solly—as the new director of major television network TF1, and declared: "In 2007, the considerable force of the big industrial groups is being added to the (UMP's) political power. The nomination at the head of TF1 of one of Nicolas Sarkozy's closest collaborators, who has no previous experience in broadcasting, is one more illustration of the movement that is under way, in broad daylight."

On Jun. 4, Royal urged voters to support her party and avoid granting Sarkozy an overwhelming victory, saying, "The parliamentary Socialist group must be as numerous as possible. We must avoid a crushing wave. The republic needs balance."

On Jun. 6, Fillon discussed the importance of the democratic process, saying, "If we lose ground in the legislative election compared to the presidential election, I won't say the momentum will stop—but it will slow down. So I say to people who maybe think it's not worth voting because the important election is over that that is not the case."

On Jun. 7, Royal told members of her party: "We must unite. Politics is a collective fight. (...) When you hear that according to the opinion polls, 80 per cent of the seats will go to Sarkozy's people, we must react. On Sunday, the country must wake up."

First round voting took place on Jun. 10. Preliminary results placed the governing centre-right Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) in first place with 39.5 per cent of the vote, followed by the centre-left Socialist Party (PS) with 24.7 per cent. The UMP also secured 98 of the 110 seats that were decided outright in the first round.

On Jun. 12, Sarkozy urged citizens to vote, saying, "The confidence that you have entrusted in me gives me the obligation of ensuring diversity, ensuring openness, and ensuring unity. I say to all our voters, to those who believe in us, who want to give me this majority: stay mobilized until next Sunday."

Bayrou rejected calls from the PS to establish a united front against Sarkozy, adding, "I will not give supporters any guidance on how to vote. I will not enter into these kinds of mechanics."

Second round voting took place on Jun. 17. The UMP and its allies secured 345 seats in the National Assembly, with the PS and other leftist factions winning 227 mandates. Fomer prime minister Alain Juppé—who was unable to win his seat in Bordeaux—declared to reporters: "You'd really love things to be bad for me. You'd be happy if I died."

Political Players

President: Nicolas Sarkozy - UMP
Prime minister: François Fillon - UMP

The president is elected to a five-year term by popular vote.

Legislative Branch: The Assemblée Nationale (National Assembly) has 577 members, elected to five-year terms in single-seat constituencies. The Sénat (Senate) currently has 321 members, elected by mayors, city councillors, and members of the National Assembly.

Results of Last Election:

President - Apr. 22 and May 6, 2007

National Assembly - Jun. 10 and Jun. 17, 2007

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