France’s divided National Assembly votes to keep centrist speaker as political turmoil persists

Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — France’s divided National Assembly has kept a centrist member of President Emmanuel Macron’s party as speaker. Speaker Yaël Braun-Pivet has been at the head of the National Assembly since 2022 and retained her post after three rounds of vote in the lower house of parliament. The 53-year-old Braun-Pivet received the support of Macron’s centrist allies and of some conservative lawmakers seeking to prevent her leftist contender a communist lawmaker from getting the job. Leaders of the leftist coalition urged again Macron to turn to them to form the new government, insisting they won the most seats in the National Assembly.