can the President of the Republic appoint whoever he wants as Prime Minister, as Raquel Garrido asserts?

“The president has the power to take a passerby in the street if he wants to make him Prime Minister,” denounces the outgoing rebellious MP Raquel Garrido, in the middle of the campaign for the early legislative elections. The head of state has, it is true, complete freedom in his choice, but it is accepted that he opts for a figure from the majority party in the National Assembly.

The first campaign posters are starting to appear. The National Rally has just published its own: the face of the party president, with written in large “Jordan Bardella, Prime Minister”. Two years ago, Nupes, which also hoped for cohabitation, published a poster “Elect Jean-Luc Mélenchon”. For Raquel Garrido, outgoing rebellious MP for Seine-Saint-Denis, this type of poster mobilizes people. But she acknowledges that it is misleading: “Everyone knows that Prime Ministers are not elected, the President has the power to take a passerby in the street if he wants to make him Prime Minister, this is still the fault of our Constitution”, she denounced on Public Senate, Tuesday June 11. Can the President of the Republic really appoint whoever he wants? In the event of cohabitation, is he obliged to appoint the leader of the party that came first in the legislative elections?

It is true that officially, the President of the Republic has complete freedom to appoint the Prime Minister. Article 8 of the Constitution simply states: “The President of the Republic appoints the Prime Minister”. Nothing further is specified. “There is nothing in the Constitution that prevents him from making his choice, it is his own power”explains Anne-Charlène Bezzina, lecturer in public law at the University of Rouen, to franceinfo.

But France is a parliamentary regime, the government is “accountable to Parliament”. The government is therefore a “emanation of the parliamentary majority”specifies Jean-François Kerléo, professor of public law at the University of Aix-Marseille. “It is an age-old constitutional custom, in all parliamentary systems in Europe, and throughout the world, we appoint the natural leader of the majority chosen at the ballot box,” continues Anne-Charlène Bezzina.

When the presidential camp obtains the majority of seats in the National Assembly, the head of state chooses a figure who achieves consensus among his troops. It is not necessarily the president of the presidential party. Emmanuel Macron, for example, appointed Édouard Philippe as Prime Minister or Élisabeth Borne.

What happens when the opposition wins the majority in the legislative elections? Nothing is imposed in the texts, but it is accepted that the President of the Republic appoints the leader of the party which won. In 1986, during the very first cohabitation of the Fifth Republic, François Mitterrand appointed Jacques Chirac, president of the RPR, the party that came first in the legislative elections. If the National Rally wins at the end of the two rounds, on July 7, “it is difficult to see Macron not appointing the leader of the winning party”, Anne-Charlène Bezzina projects. “If the RN says that Jordan Bardella will be the Prime Minister, it will be him.”

If the President of the Republic does not respect this “custom”, it risks institutional blockage and instability. Opposition deputies, who have the majority, will be able to vote on a motion of censure, which would overthrow the newly appointed government, as provided for in article 49 of the Constitution. “Three criteria must be taken into account: constitutional, institutional and practical,” summarizes Jean-François Kerléo. “If you appoint Jean-Luc Mélenchon Prime Minister, while the RN came first in the legislative elections, it will not be governable”he insists. “All texts will be blocked if there is no agreement.”