Online Encyclopedia
French National Assembly
- This article concerns the modern National Assembly. For information about the body formed in the French Revolution, see National Assembly (French Revolution).
The French National Assembly (French: "Assemblée nationale") is one of the two houses of the bicameral Parliament of France under the Fifth Republic. The other is the French Senate ("Sénat").
The National Assembly consists of 577 members known as députés (deputies), each elected by a single-member constituency. It is presided over by a President (currently Jean-Louis Debré . The term of the National Assembly is at most five years. The President of France may dissolve the Assembly (ie: call new election), except if he already dissolved it in the preceding year.
The official seat of the National Assembly is the Palais Bourbon on the banks of the river Seine. It is guarded by Republican Guards.
The last legislative elections, held in June 2002 resulted in the following distribution of seats:
| 357 | Union for a Presidential Majority |
| 140 | Socialist Party |
| 29 | Union for a Democratic France |
| 21 | Communist Party of France |
| 7 | Left Radical Party |
| 23 | other |
See also: Politics of France, National Assembly, List of Presidents of the French National Assembly, Deputies of the 12th French National Assembly