The French National Assembly (French: Assemblée nationale) is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of France under the Fifth Republic. The upper house is the Senate ("Sénat").

The National Assembly's members are known as députés ("delegate" or "envoy" in English; the word is an etymological cognate of the English word "deputy", usually "adjoint" in French).

There are 577 députés, each elected by a single-member constituency through a two-rounds system. 289 seats are therefore required for a majority. The assembly is presided over by a president (currently Bernard Accoyer), normally from the largest party represented, assisted by vice-presidents from across the represented political spectrum.

The term of the National Assembly is five years; however, the President of the Republic may dissolve the Assembly (thereby calling for new elections) unless he has dissolved it in the preceding twelve months. This measure is becoming rarer since the 2000 referendum reduced the President's term from seven to five years: a President usually has a majority elected in the Assembly two months after him, and it would be useless for him to dissolve it for those reasons.

Dominique Marie François René Galouzeau de Villepin French pronunciation: [dɔminik də vilpɛ̃] ( listen) (born 14 November 1953) is a French politician who served as the Prime Minister of France from 31 May 2005 to 17 May 2007.

A career diplomat, Villepin rose through the ranks of the French right as one of Jacques Chirac's protégés. He came into the international spotlight as Foreign Minister with his opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq which culminated with a speech to the UN (French address on Iraq at the UN Security Council).

Villepin was indicted in connection with the Clearstream affair, but was subsequently cleared of charges of complicity in allowing false accusations to proceed against presidential rival Nicolas Sarkozy regarding bribes paid on a sale of warships to Taiwan. Villepin has enjoyed a modest return to public favour for his public critique of President Sarkozy's style of "imperial rule."

He has written poetry, a book about poetry, and several historical and political essays, along with a study of Napoleon Bonaparte.