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umm, I'm doing this from memory so it may not be completely accurate.
France, the the head of the parliament is the Premier Ministre (who's name I can't think of off the top of my head) who is chosen by the President. The Premier Ministre can be a different party than the president as a way of providing checks and balances (see Jospin/Chirac for example). The Parliament and Premier Ministre tend to be more involved in domestic issues and the President (Chirac) has a more international role. In 2002, legislative elections were held in late May or early June after the presidential elections in April and May. I seem to remember that representitives are elected by the region they represent (the way we elect Senators and Reps by state and district).
CSPAN sometimes shows coverage of the UK parliament. Watching that may give you an idea of how their system works as well as the names of some key players.
Hope this helps. I can't vouch for it's accuracy so you may want to look this info up.
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