French National Assembly
The present-day French National Assembly (French: "Assemblée nationale") is one of the two houses of the bicameral Parliament of France under the Fifth Republic. The other one is the French Senate (Sénat).
The National Assembly consists of 577 members known as députés (deputies), each elected by a single-member constituency. It is presided over by a President (currently Jean-Louis Debré. The term of the National Assembly is at most five years. The President of France may dissolve the Assembly (ie: call new election), except if he already dissolved it in the preceding year.
The official seat of the National Assembly is the Palais Bourbon on the banks of the river Seine. It is guarded by Republican Guards.
The last elections were held in June 2002 - see French legislative elections, 2002, resulting in the following distribution of seats.
The present-day National Assembly
| Union for a Presidential Majority | 357 |
| Socialist Party | 140 |
| Union for a Democratic France | 29 |
| Communist Party of France | 21 |
| Left Radical Party | 7 |
| other | 23 |
See also: Politics of France, National Assembly, List of Presidents of the French National Assembly, Deputies_of_the_12th_French_National_Assembly
The National Assembly (French: "Assemblée nationale") was also a body during the French Revolution that was transitional between the Estates-General and the National Constituent Assembly. On June 17, 1789, the representatives of the Third Estate -- the communes ("commoners") -- having completed their verification of powers declared themselves the National Assembly, an assembly not of the Estates but of "the People". The were slowly joined by the other two estates (the clergy and the nobility). On July 9, having been recognized by King Louis XVI, the National Assembly reconstituted itself as the National Constituent Assembly.
The National Assembly during the French Revolution
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