President of the Senate since 2008, Gerard Larcher resumes for a new term. Senator Les Républicains was re-elected in the first round at the head of the upper house. While the absolute majority was set at 163 votes, he collected 231 and was well ahead of the Socialist Patrick Kanner (65 votes).
Éliane Assassi (PCF) and Guillaume Gontard (environmentalist) follow with 15 and 13 votes respectively.
This election is not a surprise since the right had retained a large majority after the elections senatorial which took place last Sunday.
Barely elected, Gérard Larcher wished to salute the memory of Christian Poncelet, recently deceased former President of the Senate.
“I wish to salute the memory of Christian Poncelet, who passed away on September 11th. He was a president who never ceased to defend bicameralism as a condition of democracy”, pays tribute @Gerard_Larcher # DirectSénat pic.twitter.com/dKbgGO5a5J
– Public Senate (@publicsenat) October 1, 2020
“We are an assembly of freedom where every voice is respected and believe me, I will be the guarantor”, said Gérard Larcher in his speech as re-elected president.
Retailleau at the head of the LR group
The return of an environmental group, after three years of absence, is the only novelty of Sunday’s indirect ballot which renewed half of the Senate, or 172 seats. With a dozen members, this “green” group will be led by the senator of Isère Guillaume Gontard.
Bruno Retailleau was reappointed at the head of the powerful LR group, which will have around 150 members against 144 previously, as well as Patrick Kanner as president of the Socialist Party group, second in the assembly with around sixty elected.
Little change on the side of La République en Marche, which has brought back at its head the senator of Côte d’Or François Patriat, a close friend of Emmanuel Macron. Renamed the Rally of Democrats, Progressives and Independents (RDPI), the group could have 25 members against 23 previously.
The name and composition of the groups will be formalized next Tuesday
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