What are the advantages of declaring yourself as an opposition group?

Eight of the eleven groups that make up the Assembly have positioned themselves as belonging to the opposition. A record under the Fifth Republic, which can be explained by the obtaining of specific rights.

To place oneself in opposition to the government that has just resigned or in the camp of a “majority” that no longer has much of a majority? This is the not so simple question that the parliamentary groups of the new National Assembly had to ask themselves. In total, 11 groups were formed on Thursday, July 18: a record under the Fifth Republic and the symptom of a very fragmented hemicycle, forty days after the dissolution announced by Emmanuel Macron. Of these 11 groups, eight mentioned in their declaration, available on the National Assembly website, that they were positioning themselves, at least temporarily, in the opposition.

This is the case of the National Rally, La France insoumise, the Socialist Party, the Republican Right (formerly Les Républicains), the Ecologist and Social group, Liot (the independents), the Democratic and Republican Left (the communists) and A Droite (the LR ciottistes). The three remaining groups, Ensemble pour la République (formerly Renaissance), Les Démocrates (MoDem) and Horizons, which remained outside the opposition, have not declared themselves in the majority. They are therefore currently considered “minorities”.

There may be a paradox between the high number of opposition groups and their attitude towards the executive branch. Although formally in opposition, several political forces have declared that they are trying to form a government or at least establish a “legislative pact”. This is, for example, the case of Laurent Wauquiez and the Republicans. The explanation lies in the fact that the status of opponent confers, on the Assembly, many guaranteed rights.

While the distribution of key positions in the National Assembly is being discussed on Friday, one of the most strategic positions is reserved for the opposition: the presidency of the Finance Committee, which can control the State budget, but also request the opening of a parliamentary commission of inquiry. From 2022 to 2024, this position was held by Eric Coquerel, a La France Insoumise MP, who can therefore seek his succession. Similarly, LR elected representative Véronique Louwagie can claim the position, even though the withdrawal of Philippe Juvin, her camp’s candidate in the race for the perch, allowed the election of Yaël Braun-Pivet as President of the National Assembly.

The rights of opposition groups do not stop there. Since the constitutional revision of 2008, each of them has a right to launch a commission of inquiry or a fact-finding mission on a subject of its choice during the ordinary parliamentary session, from October to June. Each week, they also have half of the questions to the government to question the executive on any subject.

Another advantage is that one day of session per month, an opposition group or a minority group (the rest of the groups that have declared themselves neither in the opposition nor in the majority) sets the agenda for the debates, to try to get their proposed laws voted on. This is what is called a parliamentary niche.

Beyond the guaranteed rights, there is also an interest in political display. This is the case of the New Popular Front, which still claims its capacity to represent an alternative to the previous majority of the presidential camp. “We call on the President of the Republic to respect the will of the French people and to appoint a Prime Minister designated by the New Popular Front. Until he has done so, our group will constitute itself as an opposition group.”wrote its various groups in a joint statement.

Above all, it is always possible to change sides. “The declaration of membership of a group in the opposition can also be made or, on the contrary, withdrawn, at any time”specifies the rules of the National Assembly. Even if the specific rights of opposition groups “are allocated or not depending on the situation of the groups at the start of each legislature and then each year at the start of the ordinary session”the cost of such a declaration is relatively low.

This does not prohibit, as the example of the LR group with the presidential camp shows, an agreement to take a large part of the strategic posts in the National Assembly. The elected representatives of the right can also form or join a government of which they would nevertheless be, on paper at least, opponents in the hemicycle.