French members of parliament on Tuesday elected Francois de Rugy from President Emmanuel Macron’s Republic on the Move (LREM) party as Speaker of the newly-appointed National Assembly.
The Nantes lawmaker and former Ecologist Party member was elected with 353 votes from members of parliament, the majority of whom belong to LREM.
However, leader of far-left ‘France Unbowed’ party Jean-Luc Melenchon was among a handful of members of parliament who did not applaud de Rugy’s appointment to the role.
LREM’s biggest opposition force in the lower chamber are the 137 members of parliament from the right-wing party, The Republicans.
The former ruling Socialist party only has 31 seats and Jean-Luc Melechon’s far-left ‘France Unbowed’ movement has 17.
Reuters