French legislative election, 1973
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French legislative election took place on March 4 and 11, 1973 to elect the 5th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic.
In 1969, after Charles De Gaulle's resignation, his former Prime minister Georges Pompidou is elected President of France. In order to respond to May 68's yearnings, Jacques Chaban-Delmas, who led the cabinet, promoted a programme of reforms for the advent of a "New Society". This worried the conservative part of the Presidential Majority and Pompidou him-self. In 1972, Chaban-Delmas is replaced by Pierre Messmer, a classic and conservative Gaullist.
After the catastrophic result of Gaston Defferre at the 1969 presidential election, the SFIO was replaced by the Socialist Party (Parti socialiste or PS). Two years later, it is joined by left republican groups led by François Mitterrand. He took the lead with the proposition to form an allance with the Communist Party. In order to prepare the legislative election, Communists and Socialiste signed the Common Programme.
The Radical Party split. The left-wing minority joined the "Union of Left" and founded the Movement of the Radical-Socialist Left (Mouvement de la gauche radical-socialists ou MGRS). The majority created the Reforminig Movement with a part of the center-right. This new group wanted represent a third way between the Presidential Majority and the Left. But, it was obliged to link with the Right for obtained parliamentary seats.
If the number of left-wing votes and MPs improved, the Presidential Majority won. Messmer was confirmed as Prime minister.
[edit] Results
| Parties and coalitions | Abbr. | Votes (1st round) | % (1st round) | Seats (2nd round) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Union of Democrats for the Republic (Union des démocrates pour la République) | UDR | 5 788 796 | 23.9 | 184 | |
| Reforming Movement (Mouvement réformateur) | MR | 3 015 372 | 12.4 | 31 | |
| Independent Republicans (Républicains indépendants) | RI | 1 674 772 | 6.9 | 54 | |
| Miscellaneous Right-wing | DVD | 972 623 | 4.0 | 19 | |
| Center, Democracy and Progress (Centre, démocratie et progrès) | CDP | 906 136 | 3.9 | 23 | |
| Total Right ("Presidential Majority" and MR) | 12 357 699 | 50.9 | 311 | ||
| French Communist Party (Parti communiste français) | PCF | 5 156 619 | 21.3 | 73 | |
| Socialist Party (Parti socialiste) | PS | 4 579 888 | 18.9 | 89 | |
| Movement of the Radical-Socialist Left (Mouvement de la gauche radicale-socialiste) | MGRS | 674 319 | 2.8 | 12 | |
| Unified Socialist Party (Parti socialiste unifié) | PSU | 489 353 | 2.0 | 3 | |
| Total "Union of Left" | 10 900 179 | 44.9 | 177 | ||
| Miscellaneous | 562 850 | 2.3 | - | ||
| Far Left | 321 292 | 1.3 | - | ||
| National Front (Front national) | FN | 122 000 | 0.5 | - | |
| Total | 24 264 020 | 100 | 488 | ||
| Abstention: 18.8 (1st round); 18.1 (2nd round) | |||||
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French legislative elections
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