Five-year period

A five-year period corresponds by definition to one 5 years period. One speaks about five-year plan for a plan spread out over five years.

More commonly, the five-year period indicates the mandate of the president in France. The duration of this one indeed was brought back from 7 to 5 years at the time of the presidential election of 2002, the seven years duration of the mandate which preceded was named Septennat, and had been decided by the president monarchist Patrice of Mac-Mahon.

This passage from 7 to 5 years had been considered of long time. The proposal was for the first time introduced into the constitutional debate the September 6th 1973 by Georges Pompidou.

François Mitterrand creates then the Commission Vedel the December 2nd 1992, of which the goal is to determine a form of shorter presidency. Ideas of not-renewable septennate, or shortening with 5 or 6 years, were then proposed.

But it is only the September 24th 2000 which French people were consulted, following an initiative of the former president, Valery Giscard d'Estaing which deposits a private bill to the National Assembly, in May 2000.

The result of the vote was the following for 39.941.192 voters:

It should be noted that the principal goal of this reform of the presidential mandate is to avoid the cohabitation by changing the order of the electoral calendar, without modifying it. Thus, the legislative elections intervene two months after the election of the President of the French Republic. In such a short time interval, the public opinion does not change. The President has thus more chance to have an assembly of his same political color and thus to be able to carry out his program as it wishes it. He was selected to vote initially for the President then, two months later, for the National Assembly. This confirms the idea of an executive stronger than the legislature (because it becomes thus a confirmation).

However, the assumption of the cohabitation is not completely inenvisageable. Indeed, one could attend a situation of cohabitation in 5 cases:

  • Vacancy of the President-in-Office.

  • Resignation or death of the President-in-Office.
  • Prevention exerted on the President-in-Office.
  • contradictory Vote of the voters from one poll to another.
  • Exercise of the right of dissolution by the President

See too

External bond

The French five-year period explained on the site of State " life-publique.fr"

The five-year period celebrates its first septennate (September 24th, 2007)

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