French Fifth Republic French Fifth Republic The Fifth Republic, France's current republican system of government, was established by Charles de Gaulle under the Constitution of the Fifth Republic on 4 October 1958. The Fifth Republic emerged from the collapse of the Fourth Republic, replacing the former parliamentary republic with a semi-presidential, or dual-executive, system that split powers between a Prime Minister as head of government and a President as head of state. De Gaulle, who was the first French President elected under the Fifth Republic in December 1958, believed in a strong head of state, which he described as embodying ("the spirit of
14th legislature of the French Fifth Republic grouping. He represents the 6th Constituency of Val d'Oise and was 76 years old at the beginning of the current parliamentary term. The youngest member of the National Assembly is Marion Maréchal-Le Pen from the Front National, the MP for the 3rd Constituency of Vaucluse. She was 22 years old at the beginning of the current parliamentary term and was actually the youngest ever MP elected under the French Fifth Republic. Members of the National Assembly who join the government are required to give up their seats to their substitutes ("suppléants") a month after their appointment, as stipulated in the