A New Generation is coming to power in France
And it’s just the beginning before 2020, 2022 and following
The last presidential elections have been full of surprises in France, but the legislative elections on June 11 and June 18 will lead to a total transformation of French Politics.
We have 577 Members of Parliament, but 37% decided not to run again. Combined with the younger candidates coming from En Marche, the winning party of Emmanuel Macron, this will completely change the mood and the composition of the Lower House.
France used to had inamovible politicians who would combine being a Mayor, a Member of the Regional Parliament, a Member of the the Local Parliament, a Minister, etc. They would get all the posts and forbid younger political aspirants to become anything interesting. Holding up to five elective offices at once was at least theoretically possible, and Mayor-MP or Senator-MP were traditional figures in French politics.
As an example, following the June 2012 legislative elections, fully 85% of all National Assembly members (438 deputies out of 577) hold a double mandate (often as mayor of a mid- to large-size city) and 33 have four mandates. Currently, out of 348 senators, 152 are also mayors.[19]
After fighting this situation for years, it looks like French people found a way to renew their politicians and to bring a new generation to power. Even if Emmanuel Macron and his supporters are the main beneficiaries of this evolution, it should largely be credited to François Hollande, the previous President, who passed a 2014 Law forbidding Dual Mandates.
The results are here.
I have never had so many friends being candidates.
But it won’t stop here.
People are reacting to this situation as if it was some sort of one-shot renewal with younger people taking on old habits. They are looking at the new Ministers and the new MP candidates as if they were just replacing the old ones.
But that’s not what will happen. The French political landscape is on fire. Nothing is happening the way it’s supposed to. As a new government and a new political elite emerges, a new opposition will appear too. People will have successes they will build upon, but also failures that will feed their opponents.
In other words, French people should prepare to meet new faces in June, but also for the five and ten years to come.
It’s time to hop on the renewal train. a
