French left wants Macron removed from office

The ongoing political wrangling over the next government in France has taken a new turn after the radical left party La France Insoumise (also known as LFI) tried to mobilize other groups to launch impeachment proceedings against President Emmanuel Macron, who they consider to have seriously violated his constitutional duties.

At the beginning of the summer, Macron surprisingly announced new elections for seats in the National Assembly to warn voters about the problem of increasing support for the far-right Rassemblement National (RN).

Although the RN fell to become the third-largest bloc in parliament in two rounds of voting, a loose coalition of left-wing parties emerged as the largest grouping, ahead of Macron's own centrists but – crucially – without an absolute majority.

After a temporary lull in political activity during the Paris Olympics, talks have resumed over the next prime minister post and the composition of the next cabinet, but little progress has been made so far.

Macron has already rejected a candidate for prime minister proposed by some left-wing parties: economist Lucie Castets, saying it was his duty to ensure “institutional stability,” but she was seen as someone who would not enjoy broader support and approval, which would lead to a constitutional deadlock.

This prompted LFI to intervene, declaring that it was not the president’s job to engage in “political horse-trading.”

Mathilde Panot, the LFI parliamentary group leader, said a draft impeachment procedure had been sent to MPs from other parties in order to gain their support.

“The Assemblée Nationale (lower house) and the Senate (upper house) can and must defend democracy against the president’s authoritarian tendencies,” the document states.

However, the impeachment process appears to be more symbolic than meaningful, since the success of such a process requires the support of two-thirds of the 577-seat National Assembly and the 349-seat Senate.

Article 68 of the French Constitution states that a president’s mandate can be terminated prematurely “in the event of a breach of duty manifestly incompatible with the exercise of his mandate”.

Macron won a second five-year term in 2022, but National Assembly elections shortly thereafter imposed on him a parliament with a different political composition, a situation that even this summer's election results did not resolve.

Political observers point out that the constitution lacks clear guidelines for dealing with a parliament without a clear majority. The constitution seems to be based on the assumption that there would always be a clear majority group or party.