Best frenemies: when French leaders are forced to 'cohabit'
French President Emmanuel Macron is battling to retain his parliamentary majority, with a leftwing alliance run by the firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon making a strong showing in the first round of the country's general election Sunday.
Macron, a centrist who also enjoys support on the right, is desperate to avoid a "cohabitation" in which the president and the prime minister are from different parties.
There have been three such periods in post-war France, when the prime minister, and not the president, took charge of domestic affairs.
Under France's constitution, the president has the power to set foreign and defence policy.
1986-1988: Sparks fly
Five years after becoming the first left-wing president since World War II, leftwinger Francois Mitterrand is forced into an unhappy marriage with centre-right leader Jacques Chirac in 1986 after losing parliamentary elections.
Mitterrand takes it on the chin, declaring that Chirac is free to "determine and conduct the policy of the nation" as set out in the Constitution.
The pair are soon at each other's throats, with Chirac threatening to resign after Mitterrand refused to sign decrees on privatising public companies.
The government later transforms the decrees into a bill, which is adopted by parliament.
Months later the tensions between the ruling duo are again laid bare when Mitterrand declares he is "on the same page" as students protesting over higher education reforms.
Mitterrand emerges victorious from the power struggle, beating Chirac in 1988 to win a second seven-year term as president.
1993-1995 : Smoother second ride
Mitterrand has to bed down with the right for another two-year period in 1993 after the Socialists suffer another election drubbing.
This time he names Chirac's rival Edouard Balladur as prime minister.
The second "cohabitation" is less acrimonious than the first, not least because this time Mitterrand is not seeking re-election after the end of his two terms.
READ MORE: French Word of the Day: Cohabitation
The pair do lock horns at times, however, on issues ranging from nuclear testing to France's asylum laws.
As Mitterrand grows weaker due to a battle with prostate cancer, Balladur begins speaking out more on France's place in the world, annoying the president.
1997-2002: Chirac's gamble
In 1997, Jacques Chirac has been president for two years when the centre-right leader gambles big... and loses spectacularly.
He dissolves the National Assembly and calls elections a year early in the hope of increasing his parliamentary majority, but ends up haemorrhaging seats to the Socialists, who win back power under Lionel Jospin.
Chirac promises a "constructive cohabitation" while insisting that the constitution gives him "the last word", a claim disputed by Jospin.
The Socialists plough ahead with their ambitious reform agenda, introducing a 35-hour working week despite Chirac's objections, as well as universal health insurance.
Yet again, the "cohabitation" proves more beneficial for the president than the premier, with Chirac seeing off Jospin and far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen to win a second term in 2002.
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Macron, a centrist who also enjoys support on the right, is desperate to avoid a "cohabitation" in which the president and the prime minister are from different parties.
There have been three such periods in post-war France, when the prime minister, and not the president, took charge of domestic affairs.
Under France's constitution, the president has the power to set foreign and defence policy.
1986-1988: Sparks fly
Five years after becoming the first left-wing president since World War II, leftwinger Francois Mitterrand is forced into an unhappy marriage with centre-right leader Jacques Chirac in 1986 after losing parliamentary elections.
Mitterrand takes it on the chin, declaring that Chirac is free to "determine and conduct the policy of the nation" as set out in the Constitution.
The pair are soon at each other's throats, with Chirac threatening to resign after Mitterrand refused to sign decrees on privatising public companies.
The government later transforms the decrees into a bill, which is adopted by parliament.
Months later the tensions between the ruling duo are again laid bare when Mitterrand declares he is "on the same page" as students protesting over higher education reforms.
Mitterrand emerges victorious from the power struggle, beating Chirac in 1988 to win a second seven-year term as president.
1993-1995 : Smoother second ride
Mitterrand has to bed down with the right for another two-year period in 1993 after the Socialists suffer another election drubbing.
This time he names Chirac's rival Edouard Balladur as prime minister.
The second "cohabitation" is less acrimonious than the first, not least because this time Mitterrand is not seeking re-election after the end of his two terms.
READ MORE: French Word of the Day: Cohabitation
The pair do lock horns at times, however, on issues ranging from nuclear testing to France's asylum laws.
As Mitterrand grows weaker due to a battle with prostate cancer, Balladur begins speaking out more on France's place in the world, annoying the president.
1997-2002: Chirac's gamble
In 1997, Jacques Chirac has been president for two years when the centre-right leader gambles big... and loses spectacularly.
He dissolves the National Assembly and calls elections a year early in the hope of increasing his parliamentary majority, but ends up haemorrhaging seats to the Socialists, who win back power under Lionel Jospin.
Chirac promises a "constructive cohabitation" while insisting that the constitution gives him "the last word", a claim disputed by Jospin.
The Socialists plough ahead with their ambitious reform agenda, introducing a 35-hour working week despite Chirac's objections, as well as universal health insurance.
Yet again, the "cohabitation" proves more beneficial for the president than the premier, with Chirac seeing off Jospin and far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen to win a second term in 2002.
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