The National Rally, which is making a historic breakthrough in the legislative elections with now 89 seats (compared to 8 the day after the 2017 legislative elections), will be able to claim new rights within the National Assembly, first and foremost have a parliamentary group in the Assembly, which requires at least 15 deputies and brings many advantages. Marine Le Pen also announced on Monday that she “wouldn’t take my head back” of his party to devote himself to the presidency of the future RN group.
More financial means
For the National Rally, on the verge of bankruptcy with more than 23 million euros of debt, it’s a breath of fresh air. The groups have a financial endowment allocated by the Assembly, the amount of which depends on the vote and the number of employees.
Each ballot obtained by a party thus earns it 1.64 euros per year. With its score achieved in the first round, the State will pay each year for five years to the party of Marine Le Pen nearly seven million euros. In other words, the party had never received so much public money. We must also add to this what the deputies will bring in, a little more than 37,000 euros each, or about 3.3 million in all.
Finally, parliamentary groups also have material facilities (offices, meeting rooms, etc.) and additional employees.
More speaking time
It is according to the size of the parliamentary groups that speaking time is distributed in public sittings. At least half of the questions to the government, on Tuesday, is asked by the opposition (in practice, more than two-thirds). Parliamentary groups can also request a suspension of the sitting.
“Non-registered” deputies have more difficulty in influencing the work of the Assembly. Their questions to the government, for example, are much rarer, and they have little speaking time.
Sign a motion of censure and seize the Constitutional Council
With this breakthrough in the legislative elections, the RN acquires the possibility of tabling a motion of censure on its own, which must be signed by at least one tenth of the deputies, i.e. 58. The motion of censure is then adopted if passed by an absolute majority of the National Assembly, i.e. 289 votes. In the event of the adoption of a motion of censure, the Prime Minister must submit the resignation of his government.
The deputies led by Marine Le Pen also cross the threshold necessary to seize the Constitutional Council, which is 60, to ensure the conformity of a text of law with the Constitution before its promulgation.
Parliamentary groups may also, subject to conditions and once per ordinary session, call for the creation of a commission of inquiry.
Finance Committee
The chairmanship of the Assembly’s Finance Committee is attributed to a member of the opposition, which has been compulsory since 2009. Traditionally, it is even up to the first opposition group. However, the National Rally and the New Popular, Ecological and Social Union (Nupes) each claim the place of “first opponent” in the lower house of Parliament.
“We will ask (…) the chairmanship of the Finance Committee, of course”, said Marine Le Pen on Monday from her stronghold of Hénin-Beaumont. In the eyes of the deputy, the Nupes is made up of four distinct parliamentary groups, and therefore cannot claim as such the presidency of this strategic commission. The PS, EELV and the PCF have also refused Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s proposal to form a single parliamentary group in the Assembly on Monday.
“The Finance Committee must constitutionally go to an opposition group, so we will see who is in charge of the Finance Committee, there is no certainty when you read the Constitution”underlined the spokesperson of the government, Olivia Grégoire.
More weight on the work of the Assembly
The group presidents have a strategic role since they sit in the Conference of Presidents, which organizes the work of the deputies, and at certain meetings of the Bureau, a sort of board of directors of the institution. They can request the creation of a special commission or a public ballot. The groups are also represented in the eight standing committees (Economic Affairs, Laws, Social Affairs, etc.) in proportion to the number of seats held.
The group meetings every Tuesday morning, intended in particular to determine the position on the texts on the agenda, are one of the highlights of parliamentary and political life, traditionally followed by a press conference. The parliamentary groups also regularly have a day to defend their legislative proposals (“parliamentary niche”).