De Villepin appointed French PM

**ICantSpellDawg** · 05-31-2005, 16:12

this appointment highlights how little i know about the french political system

i understand relatively thouroughly the system in use in the UK, Germany, Russia, the US, Japan and Mexico, but this just flew over my head

the President appoints the PM? Is this like Russia? is there any consensus among parliament before he is actually given the position?

if someone can give a quick run down of the system id be grateful

**doc_bean** · 05-31-2005, 16:23

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_France

The president chooses the prime minister. However, since only the French National Assembly has the power to dismiss the Prime Minister's gouvernement, the president is forced to name a prime minister that is agreeable to the majority of this assembly.

**ICantSpellDawg** · 05-31-2005, 16:34

Originally Posted by doc_bean

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_France

ahh - i gotcha

**Al Khalifah** · 05-31-2005, 16:46

But he has chosen a non-elected official as Primeminister? How does that make any sense?

**ICantSpellDawg** · 05-31-2005, 17:27

it is a different system, with different guidelines

it sounds alot like Russia's system as far as the president's powers go

**Meneldil** · 05-31-2005, 17:49

As long as the President is from the same political wing as the Parliament, he can do whatever he wants. Like if I were Chirac's son, he could just chose me as PM.
Sounds silly, but in fact, since the PM has almost no real power. He just does what the President ask him to do (except if the President and the Parliament are from 2 different wings. In that case, the PM might be considered as the real leader, though the President still holds some power -military, diplomacy, etc.)

**bmolsson** · 06-01-2005, 02:58

The French president is an elected king in other words....

**IrishMike** · 06-01-2005, 03:01

Wow, interesting how different countries systems works.

**el_slapper** · 06-01-2005, 08:28

Originally Posted by bmolsson

The French president is an elected king in other words....

Rather accurate, & recent developments show that the system has problems :(

But it's really dependant on wether the parliament is on the same side than the president. When true(like current days), the president is overpowered, & the gov just follows the orders. And the gov is guilty of errors, while the president is thanked for good events.

When false(like the 97-02 era, where rightist Chirac was pres' & socialist Jospin prime minister, due to socialist-green dominance over the parliament), powers are divided. The pres' keeps control of the army & diplomacy, relations with Europe are shared(thus the 2-headed presence at the Nice treaty negotiations), & the rest is up to the prime minister.

In the first case, we have a powerfule elected king. In the second case, he's slightly more influent than the queen of England. We have 2 system in one constitution - but we really shall change that, it's proving rather wrong.

**Ldvs** · 06-01-2005, 10:00

Originally Posted by el_slapper

In the first case, we have a powerfule elected king. In the second case, he's slightly more influent than the queen of England. We have 2 system in one constitution - but we really shall change that, it's proving rather wrong.

It was problematic because the President and the Parliament's mandates were not of the same length. It is no longer true now. If there's no dissolution of parliament, we're not to face this problem ever again.