Chang: It originated in 1958 when World War II hero General Charles de Gaulle was appointed prime minister. His appointment was based on the understanding that he would present a new Constitution to the country after the state's authority was weakened by parliament for over 80 years.
De Gaulle, who was an admirer of the British parliamentary system, introduced a new Constitution incorporating the presidential system of the US and the parliamentary system of the UK.
The new French Constitution mandated that national defense and foreign affairs were the president's exclusive domain, and that the president had to share power with the prime minister, who was accountable to the majority in the National Assembly.
The year 1962 saw a definite shift in power to the presidency when the president was no longer chosen by an electoral college but elected directly by popular vote.
The 1981-1986 period under Francois Mitterrand saw the president delegate a great deal of responsibility to the prime minister.
In 1986 the "leftist" Mitterrand was confronted with a "rightist" government under Prime Minister Jacques Chirac. It was a major test for the Fifth Republic and the first cohabitation period in the modern history of France.
After Mitterrand scored a comfortable victory in his presidential re-election bid in 1988, he promised to reduce the presidential term of office from seven years to five so as to coincide with the life of the legislature in a bid to avert the threat of further cohabitation.
However, he failed to apply the pledge to himself, and cohabitation returned in 1993 when the center-right Gaullist Edouard Balladur was appointed prime minister. The Mitterrand-Balladur cohabitation went on until Mitterrand left office in 1995.
Overall, the two periods of cohabitation, 1986-1988 and 1993-1995, not only helped France tide over severe political strains but also blurred the distinction between the left-wing Social Democrats and the right-wing Gaullist Republic.
The third cohabitation period began in 1997 when President Chirac planned to dissolve the National Assembly anticipating a difficult political situation in the run-up to the parliamentary elections in 1999.
The victory of the socialist party and the appointment of Lionel Jospin as prime minister were humiliating for the president. However, Chirac regained popularity in 2000 when he successfully amended the Constitution and reduced the presidential term of office from seven years to five.
As the presidential elections are scheduled for May this year, the two executive leaders are bracing themselves for another round of fierce rivalry.
TT: Could you elaborate more on "cohabitation"?
Chang: Cohabitation, or power sharing with an opposing political majority, is a term used in France to describe its political structure of the semi-presidential, or "dual leadership," system.
Under the system, the president and the prime minister share executive power, although they may not come from the same political party or coalition.
Cohabitation is made possible because of the dissociation between the term of office of the president and the National Assembly. The National Assembly is the lower house and the most important chamber in the French parliament whose members are elected every five years.
The presidential term of office was initially set for seven years until an amendment to the French Constitution was adopted in 2000 which reduced the term to five years to coincide with the life of the National Assembly.
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