David Habib (born 16 March 1961) is French politician who has served as a member of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

for Pyrénées-Atlantiques's 3rd constituency since 2002. A member of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

, Habib was the vice-president of the National Assembly from October of 2019 to June of 2022. He also served as mayor of

Mourenx Mourenx (; oc, Morencs) is a Communes of France, commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques Departments of France, department in south-western France. History A settlement of ''Mourengs'' existed in the eleventh century. A secular abbey existed, be ...

from 1995 to 2014 and general councillor of

Pyrénées-Atlantiques Pyrénées-Atlantiques (; Gascon Occitan: ''Pirenèus Atlantics''; eu, Pirinio Atlantiarrak or ) is a department in the southwest corner of France and of the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Named after the Pyrenees mountain range and the Atlanti ...

from 1992 to 2002.

Early life and education

David Habib was born to a family of

Tunisian Jews The history of the Jews in Tunisia extended nearly two thousand years and goes back to the Punic era. The Jewish community in Tunisia is no doubt older and grew up following successive waves of immigration and proselytism before its develo ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

on 16 March 1961. When he was six months old, his father moved the family to

Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques Pau (, ) is a Communes of France, commune overlooking the Pyrenees, and prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Pyrénées-Atlantiques, regions of France, region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. The city is located in the heart o ...

for career-related reasons.Michel Feltin-Palas (November 27, 2013)
David Habib, candidat PS à Pau: "J'incarne le Béarn mieux que François Bayrou"
''

L'Express ''L'Express'' () is a French weekly news magazine headquartered in Paris. The weekly stands at the political centre in the French media landscape, and has a lifestyle supplement, ''L'Express Styles'', and a job supplement, ''Réussir''. History ...

''. Habib attended Sciences Po Bordeaux, graduating in 1983.

Political career

Habib began his political career on the municipal council of

, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, to which he was elected in the

1989 French municipal elections Municipal elections were held in France on 12 and 19 March 1989. After the 1983 disaster, the left did relatively well in 1989. They gained Nantes, Strasbourg, Brest, Orléans, Mulhouse, Avignon, Chambéry, and Blois while losing Amiens, Saint-M ...

. He was then appointed deputy mayor by the town's

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

mayor André Cazetien. In March of 1992, Habib was elected to the General Council of Pyrénées-Atlantiques, representing the Canton of

Lagord Lagord () is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department in southwestern France. Population See also * Communes of the Charente-Maritime department The following is a list of the 463 communes of the Charente-Maritime department of Fran ...

. This was followed by his election as mayor of Mourenx in the 1995 municipal elections. Habib was re-elected as general councillor in the 2001 municipal elections and became president of the community of communes of

Lacq Lacq (; oc, Lac) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in southwestern France. It lies just northwest of the prefecture (department capital) Pau. Economy In modern times the local economy has been based on the industrial use ...

in 2002. Habib entered national politics in the

2002 French legislative elections The French legislative elections took place on 9 and 16 June 2002 to elect the 12th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic, in a context of political crisis. The Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin announced his political retirement after ...

, where he was elected member of the

for Pyrénées-Atlantiques's 3rd constituency. As a

deputy Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spai ...

, he joined the

Socialist group The Socialists, Democrats and Greens Group (french: Groupe Socialiste, SOC) is a primarily social-democratic political grouping in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. It was known as the Socialist Group prior to August 2017. The g ...

. Habib then resigned from the general council of Pyrénées-Atlantiques in accordance with the law on the accumulation of political mandates. Habib was re-elected to the National Assembly in the

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

and 2012 legislative elections as well as the mayoralty of Mourenx in the 2008 municipal elections. In March of 2014, he announced his candidacy for mayor of Pau at the head of a united electoral list of major left-wing parties. Habib was defeated in the second round of the 2014 municipal elections, winning 37% of the vote against

François Bayrou François René Jean Lucien Bayrou (; born 25 May 1951) is a French politician who has presided over the Democratic Movement (MoDem) since he founded it in 2007. A centrist, he was a candidate in the 2002, 2007 and 2012 presidential elections. ...

's 63%. Nevertheless, the Socialist did gain a seat on city's municipal council, but resigned several months later to run in a municipal by-election in

Sarpourenx Sarpourenx (; Béarnese: ''Sarporens'') is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France, notable for once having forbidden death by mayoral decree. The demonym is ''Sarpourenois''. History Never a large community, t ...

on 21 June 2015. He was successfully elected to the city's municipal council and has served there since. On 1 January 2015, Habib succeeded Christophe Sirugue as second vice-president of the National Assembly. He endorsed

Manuel Valls Manuel Carlos Valls Galfetti (, , ; born 13 August 1962) is a French-Spanish politician who has served as a Barcelona city councillor from 2019 to 2021. He served as Prime Minister of France from 2014 until 2016 under president François Hol ...

in the 2017 Socialist presidential primary and was one of his eight campaign spokespersons. Habib was again re-elected in the 2017 legislative elections and was one of three deputies from the Socialist group to vote yes on a motion of confidence in the

Second Philippe government The second Philippe government ( French: ''Gouvernement Édouard Philippe II'') was the forty-first government of the French Fifth Republic. It was the second government formed by Édouard Philippe under President Emmanuel Macron, following the ...

. During the 2022 legislative elections, Habib opposed the

NUPES The New Ecological and Social People's Union (french: Nouvelle Union populaire écologique et sociale, link=no, NUPES) is a left-wing alliance of political parties in France. Formed on May Day 2022, the alliance includes La France Insoumise (LFI) ...

electoral alliance between the Socialists and

La France Insoumise La France Insoumise (FI or LFI; ; "France Unbowed") is a left-wing populist political party in France, launched in 2016 by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, then a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and former co-president of the Left Party (PG). It aim ...

and instead called for his party to unite behind President

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econ ...

La République En Marche Renaissance (RE), previously known as La République En Marche ! (frequently abbreviated LREM, LaREM or REM; translated as "The Republic on the Move" or "Republic Forward"), or sometimes called simply En Marche ! () as its original name, is a l ...

. As a result, the governing

Ensemble! Ensemble!, officially Ensemble – Movement for a Leftist, Ecologist, and Solidary Alternative (), is a French left-wing political party, defining itself as anti-capitalist, anti-racist, feminist and eco-socialist. It was launched in November 2 ...

coalition did not run a candidate against him in his re-election race and Hadid returned to the National Assembly with 66.55% of the vote in the second round against Jean-François Baby of NUPES, who won 33.45%. Habib sits on the

National Defence and Armed Forces Committee The National Defence and Armed Forces Committee is one of the eight standing committees of the French National Assembly. Chairwoman * Françoise Dumas - 15th legislature of the French Fifth Republic The 15th legislature of the French Fif ...

, for which he served as vice-president from 2 October 2020 to 8 July 2021. He has previously been a member of the Social Affairs Committee, the Economic Affairs Committee, the Foreign Affairs Committee, the Finance, General Economy and Budgetary Monitoring Committee, the Constitutional Acts, Legislation and General Administration Committee and the now-defunct Economic, Environmental and Territorial Affairs Committee. In addition to his committee assignments, Habib is part of the Tibet Study Group and was formerly part of the French delegation to the

Inter-Parliamentary Union The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU; french: Union Interparlementaire, UIP) is an inter-parliamentary institution, international organization of national parliaments. Its primary purpose is to promote democratic governance, accountability, and coop ...

(IPU). He is also vice-president of the Israel Friendship Group and was one of the only Socialist signatories of a letter to President

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Se ...

opposing potential French recognition of the

State of Palestine Palestine ( ar, فلسطين, Filasṭīn), Legal status of the State of Palestine, officially the State of Palestine ( ar, دولة فلسطين, Dawlat Filasṭīn, label=none), is a state (polity), state located in Western Asia. Officiall ...

References

1961 births Living people Socialist Party (France) politicians Deputies of the 12th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 13th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 14th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 15th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic 20th-century French Jews Jewish French politicians Politicians from Paris Deputies of the 16th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Members of Parliament for Pyrénées-Atlantiques {{France-politician-Socialist-stub