At stake in this election:

• 577 seats in the National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Nicolas SARKOZY *
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Francois FILLON
• Assembly: France has a bicameral Parliament (Parlement) consisting of the Senate (Sénat) with 331 seats and the National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) with 577 seats.

* The President is elected by absolute majority vote to serve a 5-year term renewable once. If no candidate obtains a majority in the first-round election, a second round is held between the two candidates with the highest votes in the first round.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote to serve a 5-year term.
• In the Senate (Sénat) 331 members are elected by indirect vote to serve 9-year terms*. In the National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) 577 members are elected by absolute majority vote in single-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms.

* 331 members are elected by indirect vote in an electoral college to serve 9-year terms. One third of the Senate is renewable every three years.

Main parties in the Second Round of the electoral race:

• Party: Union for a Popular Movement / Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP)
  • Leader: Nicolas SARKOZY
  • Seats won in this National Assembly election: 204
  • Seats won in last National Assembly election: 355
• Party: Democratic Movement / Mouvement démocrate (MoDem)**
  • Leader: Francois BAYROU
  • Seats won in this National Assembly election: 3
  • Seats won in last National Assembly election: N/A
• Party: New Centre / Nouveau Centre (NC)***
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in this National Assembly election: 15
  • Seats won in last National Assembly election: N/A
• Party: Greens / Verts
  • Leader: Yann WEHRLING
  • Seats won in this National Assembly election: 4
  • Seats won in last National Assembly election: 3
• Party: French Communist Party / Parti Communiste Français (PCF)
  • Leader: Marie-George BUFFET
  • Seats won in this National Assembly election: 15
  • Seats won in last National Assembly election: 21
• Party: Socialist Party / Parti Socialiste (PS)
  • Leader: Francois HOLLANDE
  • Seats won in this National Assembly election: 185
  • Seats won in last National Assembly election: 140
• Party: National Front / Front National (FN)
  • Leader: Jean-Marie LE PEN
  • Seats won in this National Assembly election: 0
  • Seats won in last National Assembly election: 0

** The Democratic Movement is a party recently founded by Francois BAYROU which brings together members of his former Union for French Democracy (UDF) party. UDF won 29 seats in the last election.
*** The New Center has been formed by the remaining members of the UDF following Francois BAYROU

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 64,016,229 (2007)
• Registered Voters: 44,472,834 (April 2007)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 32,799,409 (2007)

·         Is France a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)

·         Has France ratified CEDAW: Yes (14 December 1980)

·         Gender Quota: Yes

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 107 (National Assembly) following 2007 election; 56 (Senate) following 2004 election) 

·         Human Development Index Position: 22 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Very Low

Disability Data:

·         Is France a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has France ratified CRPD: Yes (18 February 2010)

·         Population with a disability: 9,602,434 (est.)