2000 French constitutional referendum

A constitutional referendum was held in France on 24 September 2000.[1] The proposals would result in the mandate of the President being reduced from seven years to five years in line with terms in office in other European countries. It was approved by 73.2% of voters, although turnout was just 30.2%.[2]

This article is part of a series on the
Politics of France

Background

The idea of a 5-year term was evoked during the French parliamentary session of 1848, but rejected in favor of a 4-year term. The idea was re-introduced by Georges Pompidou in 1973, who failed to enact it. In the year 2000, Jacques Chirac led a referendum reducing the president's term from seven to five years. Thus, when he was elected in 2002, he was the first president to serve a five-year term.[3]

The aim of the quinquennat (five-year term) was to have the legislative election immediately succeed the presidential election (as in 2007, the presidential election took place in April–May 2007, while the legislative election took place in June), thus providing similar electoral results and reducing the risk of a cohabitation.

Results
Choice Metropolitan France Total
Votes % Votes %
For7,372,97673.27,407,69773.2
Against2,703,65726.82,710,65126.8
Invalid/blank votes1,939,282–1,940,340–
Total12,015,91510012,058,688100
Registered voters/turnout39,631,06330.339,941,19230.2
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

See also

References
  1. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p674 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. Nohlen & Stöver, p687
  3. "Quinquennat (politique)". Wikipédia (in French). 11 December 2016.


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