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1993 French legislative election

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1993 French legislative election

← 1988 21 and 28 March 1993 1997 →

All 577 seats to the French National Assembly
289 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout68.93% (Increase3.2 pp) (1st round)
67.51% (Decrease1.4pp) (2nd round)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Jacques Chirac 1990 (crop).jpg
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing & Yves-Thibault de Silguy - 1996 (cropped).jpg
Pierre-Beregovoy.webp
Leader Jacques Chirac Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Pierre Bérégovoy
Party RPR UDF PS
Leader's seat Corrèze-3rd Puy-de-Dôme-3rd Nièvre 1st
Last election 126 seats 129 seats 260 seats
Seats won 247 213 53
Seat change Increase 119 Increase 83 Decrease 209
Popular vote 5,188,196 (1st round)
5,832,987 (2nd round)
4,855,274(1st round)
5,331,935 (2nd round)
4,476,716 (1st round)
5,829,493 (2nd round)
Percentage 20.39% (1st round)
28.27% (2nd round)
19.08% (1st round)
25.84% (2nd round)
17.60% (1st round)
28.25% (2nd round)

  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Georges Marchais (cropped 2).JPG
200109 Jean-Marie Le Pen 191.jpg
Leader Georges Marchais Jean-Marie Le Pen
Party PCF FN
Leader's seat none
Last election 27 seats 1 seat
Seats won 24 0
Seat change Decrease 3 Decrease 1
Popular vote 2,336,254 (1st round)
951,213 (2nd round)
3,159,477 (1st round)
1,168,150 (2nd round)
Percentage 9.18% (1st round)
4.61% (2nd round)
12.42% (1st round)
5.66% (2nd round)

Map showing the results of the second round.

Prime Minister before election

Pierre Bérégovoy
PS

Elected Prime Minister

Edouard Balladur
RPR

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

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 regional and cantonal elections and the following month 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, 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

[edit]
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

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

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Elections held in 1993". Inter-Parliamentary Union.