1993 French legislative election

Legislative elections were held in France on 21 and 28 March 1993,[1] to elect the tenth National Assembly of the Fifth Republic.

1993 French legislative election
France
21 March 1993 (first round)
28 March 1993 (second round)

All 577 seats in the National Assembly
289 seats needed for a majority
Turnout68.93% (first round)
67.51% (second round)
PartyLeader % Seats +/–
RPR Jacques Chirac 20.39 247 +119
UDF Valéry Giscard d'Estaing 19.08 213 +83
PS Pierre Bérégovoy 17.60 53 -209
PCF Georges Marchais 9.18 24 -3
DVD 4.72 24 +12
DVG 1.80 10 +4
MRG Jean-François Hory 0.90 6 -3
Results by constituency
Prime Minister before Prime Minister after
Pierre Bérégovoy
PS
Edouard Balladur
RPR

Since 1988, President François Mitterrand and his Socialist cabinets had relied on a relative parliamentary majority. In an attempt to avoid having to work with the Communists, Prime Minister Michel Rocard tried to gain support from the UDF by appointing four UDF ministers. After the UDF withdrew its support for the government in 1991, Rocard and the UDF ministers resigned. The UDF then became allied with the Gaullist Rally for the Republic (RPR).

The Socialist Party (PS) was further weakened by scandals (involving illicit financing, contaminated blood and other affairs) and an intense rivalry between François Mitterrand's potential successors (Lionel Jospin and Laurent Fabius). In March 1992, the Socialists were punished at the local elections. Prime Minister Édith Cresson was replaced by Pierre Bérégovoy. The latter promised to fight against economic recession and corruption, but he was himself suspected to have received a loan from a controversial businessman, Roger-Patrice Pelat.

The election was a landslide victory for the RPR–UDF alliance, while the PS and their left-wing allies received their worst result since the 1960s. The PS lost nearly 80% of the seats they had held at the time of the chamber's dissolution. This caused a crisis within the PS; Fabius lost his position as First Secretary in favour of Rocard, who claimed that a political "big bang" was needed. Jospin announced his political retirement after he was defeated in his Haute-Garonne constituency. Depressed by the defeat and the accusations about the loan from Pelat, Pierre Bérégovoy committed suicide on 1 May.

Some traditional PS voters voted for the Greens in the first round. These ecologists obtained a total of 11%, making this the best total score for green parties in legislative elections. However, only two ecologists qualified for the runoff, including Dominique Voynet in her constituency in the Doubs département. Both of these candidates were eventually defeated. Lack of major political allies for these ecologists explained this failure to take any seats.

The RPR–UDF coalition (together with supportive right-wing parties) formed the largest parliamentary majority since 1958, taking a total of 484 of the 577 seats. The RPR leader Jacques Chirac demanded President Mitterrand's resignation and refused to be Prime Minister in a new "cohabitation" government. Finally, he suggested the nomination of his former RPR Finance Minister Edouard Balladur at the head of the government. Balladur promised publicly that he would not run against Chirac for the next presidential election. The second "cohabitation" finished with the 1995 presidential election.

Results

PartyFirst roundSecond roundTotal
seats
Votes%SeatsVotes%Seats
Rally for the Republic5,188,19620.39425,832,98728.27205247
Union for French Democracy4,855,27419.08365,331,93525.84177213
Socialist Party4,476,71617.6005,829,49328.255454
National Front3,159,47712.4201,168,1505.6600
French Communist Party2,336,2549.180951,2134.612323
Miscellaneous right1,199,8874.722736,3723.572224
The Greens1,022,7494.02020,0880.1000
Miscellaneous957,7113.7600
Ecology Generation921,9253.62017,4030.0800
Miscellaneous left457,1931.800448,1872.171010
Far-left451,8041.78022,5090.1100
Movement of Radicals of the Left228,7580.900237,6221.1566
Regionalists116,4740.46036,9710.1800
Far-right69,9850.2800
Total25,442,403100.008020,632,930100.00497577
Valid votes25,442,40394.7220,632,93090.49
Invalid/blank votes1,417,7745.282,169,3719.51
Total votes26,860,177100.0022,802,301100.00
Registered voters/turnout38,968,66068.9333,773,80467.51
Source: IPU, National Assembly

Parliamentary groups in the National Assembly

PartySeats
MembersCaucusingtotal
RPR Group24512257
UDF Group2132215
Socialist Group52557
Republic and Liberty Group23023
Communist Group22123
Non-Inscrits202
Total55720577
Source: IPU

References

  1. "Elections held in 1993". Inter-Parliamentary Union.
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