François Bayrou launches consultations on proportional representation in legislative elections with divided parties

Prime Minister François Bayrou is reviving the eternal Arlesienne of proportional representation for MPs . Until now, the only attempt at such a configuration dates back to 1986, under the government of Laurent Fabius. The leader of the MoDem thus began, on Wednesday, April 30, a series of consultations with political forces on a subject he himself has been defending for almost twenty years – he proposed, during the 2007 presidential election, that half of the MPs be elected by proportional representation. He is now advocating for a full ballot, in all departments , for legislative elections.

Despite the acceleration of the debate surrounding this controversial issue—Nicolas Sarkozy, François Hollande, and Emmanuel Macron, all promised to tackle it in 2017—disagreements remain numerous within the Chamber. The Prime Minister will meet with each of the party leaders and presidents of parliamentary groups represented in the National Assembly, in an order based on their numerical importance.

The leader of the National Rally (RN) deputies – whose sentence of five years of ineligibility with provisional execution does not deprive her of her seat – Marine Le Pen, who form the largest group in the Assembly, and the president of the far-right party, Jordan Bardella, will thus be received first at 10 a.m.

The National Rally (RN) is also calling for proportional representation, but with a majority bonus for the list that comes out on top. "The tripolarization of political life leads to a lack of a majority," Marine Le Pen argued on Tuesday, April 29, who "cannot imagine that the Prime Minister (...) could back down on this issue." The far-right party is not hesitating to bring out the no-confidence motion card on this issue.

For several weeks, the National Rally has been denouncing the lack of legislative prospects on proportional representation , on immigration and on the energy roadmap (multi-year energy programming, PPE). François Bayrou already took steps in this regard on Monday, April 28, by postponing the publication date of a decree on the PPE.

This will be followed by a meeting scheduled for Thursday, May 1st, at 5 p.m., with his own political camp. The latter will be represented by the president of the Macronist group and the Renaissance party , Gabriel Attal. He will be accompanied by MP Pierre Cazeneuve, who conducted a comparative analysis of the different voting methods. But the Prime Minister is not guaranteed to have the support of the Macronists this time, who are plagued by many "questions," warns Pierre Cazeneuve.

In 2018, President Emmanuel Macron had called for the introduction of a mixed system with 15% of MPs elected by proportional representation, but the reform was then abandoned. However, Renaissance MPs now consider the current voting system to be "the least bad" because the "distortion" between the number of votes and the number of MPs "no longer exists" in the current Assembly, and this change is "not necessarily a priority" for the French in view of the new international context, announced the man who will accompany the former Prime Minister to Matignon, during a press briefing.

Gabriel Attal and Pierre Cazeneuve intend to broaden the debate on Thursday to the question of "the effectiveness of public action" , by talking again about the reduction in the number of parliamentarians and the "simplification of the administrative millefeuille" . But they consider it "harmful" to propose proportional representation in exchange for the accumulation of mandates, strongly supported by François Bayrou . However, it is precisely on this point that the Prime Minister hopes to win the votes of the Republicans (LR). Questioned by L'Humanité on the vote for such a reform, several parliamentarians from the right-wing party explained that they would follow the government only if the non-accumulation of mandates is "buried at the same time" .

LR nevertheless remains officially against proportional representation, as Laurent Wauquiez has constantly reminded us. "Proportional representation will result in institutionalizing the political chaos we are experiencing at the moment," thundered the leader of the right on Sunday, before criticizing on Tuesday the government's "hierarchy of priorities" in a country "which is ruined" and "where there is such an explosion of insecurity and immigration," in view of the "threats" on the international level.

Still within the presidential camp, the president of the Horizons party, Édouard Philippe , defends the majority vote, which "imposes a link between a deputy and the voters of a territory" . He could support proportional representation "if the possibility of combining a local executive mandate and a parliamentary mandate were re-established" .

On the left, the Greens (EELV) support proportional representation at the regional level, and France Insoumise (LFI) at the national level. The French Communist Party (PCF) is also in favor of such a change. The Socialist Party (PS), for its part, is divided on the issue. Former President François Hollande is in favor, while First Secretary Olivier Faure, who is in the midst of a re-election campaign as party leader , is personally against it. Socialist Party MP Emmanuel Grégoire recalled on Tuesday that "behind this somewhat vague term proportional representation, lies an immense, immense subtlety of practical variations." Their consultations at Matignon are expected to take place in the coming days.

The independents of the Liot group are "rather largely very opposed" to reforming the voting system, according to its president, Laurent Panifous. What is certain is that the government wants to be able to legislate on this subject. And, if possible, "before the end of the parliamentary session if the debate is mature," government spokesperson Sophie Primas has already announced. It remains to be seen whether proportional representation will end up in the Chamber as a bill. Establishing a referendum—by activating Article 11 of the Constitution—thus remains on François Bayrou's table.