If a French MP is not physically at the National Assembly, he or she cannot vote on a bill – a situation that is being challenged with the rise in the number of female MPs, some of whom will take time off for maternity leave. One MP wants to change the constitution to allow lawmakers to be replaced when they have a baby. Who would oppose such a move?
“Today, it’s an organisation that was thought up by men, for men,” says Mathilde Hignet about the National Assembly, where she has been a lawmaker since June.
Currently pregnant with her first child, which is due in October, Hignet is a farmer in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany, which she represents in parliament.
Listen to an interview with Mathilde Hignet in the Spotlight on France podcast:
Until 1997, less than ten percent of members of the National Assembly were women. Since then, the body has become more female, with 215 of the 577 seats, 37 percent, currently held by women.
Of the 215 female MPs, 41 are under 40. Hignet is one of four lawmakers currently pregnant.
Because being a MP is an appointment and not a job, she does not get the 16 weeks maternity leave accorded to French employees.
Instead, she has the flexibility to stop and start when she wants. In September, Hignet stopped making the multi-hour trip from Brittany to Paris, though she has continued to participate in local events.
But this means her seat in the National Assembly is empty.
“I cannot vote. There is no way to have someone vote for you,” she says, explaining her plan to take off ten weeks – the minimum required for employees – after her baby is born.
“If I cannot be there for ten weeks after the birth, unfortunately, my seat will be empty.”
‘Deficit' in democracy
Hignet feels a lot of pressure to go back sooner rather than later. Famously, Rachida Dati, who was Justice Minister under Nicolas Sarkozy, went back to work five days after giving birth in 2009.
Not being in parliament “makes a deficit in terms of democracy”, says Hignet.
This is particularly true in the current National Assembly, where no one party has a clear majority, and so every vote counts.
Hignet is a member of the hard-left France Unbowed party, which is in a strong position as part of the leftist opposition Nupes alliance, which is planning to oppose several reforms being put forward by Emmanuel Macron’s majority.
Hignet was pregnant when she started her campaign this spring, and she was surprised to learn that she would not be replaced when she left to have her baby.
She thought her deputy, Marc Martin, with whom she campaigned, could take her place. But the rules governing the National Assembly say that the deputy – called the suppléant – can replace an MP only if they are appointed to a government position, or if they die.
“We campaign as a pair. People vote for two people, really. And some will even vote more for the deputy because they know them,” says Hignet.
However, “once the election is over, the deputy loses their entire role.”
That is why Hignet decided to introduce a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow for deputies to replace MPs if they leave for maternity or paternal leave.
Hignet would like the entire role of the deputy to be reevaluated.
“I think there are really interesting questions about making a real duo, to work on dossiers or preparing bills,” she says. “What if we each went every other week to parliament?”
Widespread support
All 75 lawmakers in Hignet’s France Unbowed party signed on to her proposed amendment, along with 15 others, and she is confident it would get broader support. After all, who would not want to have more of a voice in parliament?
“No one said it was appalling to propose such a bill,” says Hignet. But some have balked at the complexities of changing the constitution.
A constitutional amendment is a long process, that can involve a referendum, or a super-majority vote of both legislative chambers.
“Some have hidden behind that, saying it will not be possible to modify the constitution and it’s too complicated.”
Aurore Bergé, one of the four MPs currently pregnant, and the leader of Macron’s party’s parliamentary group, agrees with Hignet that lawmakers should be replaced if they go on maternity leave.
However, she has said she prefers exploring other ways to resolve the problem, avoiding a constitutional amendment.
France would not be alone
If France allows deputies to replace MPs, it would join a handful of other European countries that already have such regulations in place, like The Netherlands, Portugal, Denmark and Sweden.
Some countries allow for a lawmaker to be replaced without explicitly mentioning maternity leave as a reason, and in Latvia and Estonia, MPs can temporarily give up or suspend their mandate for a period of time and be replaced.
Spain allows for remote voting, while other countries have informal pairing agreements, where someone from an opposing party agrees not to vote, to balance out the absent lawmaker.
In France, Hignet’s is not the first proposal, nor will it be the last.
“It will not happen this year, that’s for sure. And maybe not during my term,” she admits,
“As the National Assembly gets younger and more female, these questions will always come up,” she says confidently.
“Even if the process is long and maybe a bit complicated, I think we will necessarily have to change things at some point.”
This story was produced for the Spotlight on France podcast. Listen here.
