[talideon]

Apparently, you have to request a quorum, and even then the quorum has to be assembled in 15mins, or else it's ignored and the vote goes ahead anyway to prevent 'obstruction': http://www2.assemblee-nationale.fr/decouvrir-l-assemblee/rol...

It's insane!

[pikzen]

To be fair, we DID have a huge problem with obstruction. The laws regarding quorum were so large that even if very few people were missing, you could delay the law once again.

The 2009 reform was passed while Nicolas Sarkozy was still president, and he took great care of consolidating the power of the president while lowering the National Assembly's.