A general view shows the hemicycle during results for the second round of votes to elect the new President of the National Assembly, during the first session after the French parliamentary elections, at the National Assembly in Paris, France, July 18, 2024. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier
PARIS (Reuters) - Lawmakers in France's National Assembly on Thursday handed centrist politician Yeael Braun-Pivet, a loyal ally of President Emmanuel Macron, a second term as speaker in a tight win over the candidate from the left.
Braun-Pivet scored 220 ballots while her main rival for the job, veteran communist lawmaker Andre Chassaigne, received 207 votes in a close race that required three rounds of voting.
The lower house of parliament was meeting for the first time since this month's inconclusive election in which the leftwing New Popular Front (NFP) alliance unexpectedly came first, ahead Macron's centrists and Marine Le Pen's far right, but no one group won a majority.
(Reporting by Tassilo Hummel)
