In response to Emmanuel Macron’s announcement on Monday, August 26, that he had ruled out the« option » of a prime minister from the New Popular Front (NFP), La France Insoumise (LFI) announced that it would present a motion of impeachment against the head of state.
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Already, in a column published by The Tribune Sunday On August 18, the “insoumis” leaders Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Mathilde Panot and Manuel Bompard had stated their intention to try to end Mr. Macron’s mandate early. What does this procedure consist of and what are its chances of success?
What does the text say?
The mechanism stems from the constitutional reform of 2007, and has been applicable since an organic law of 2014.
Article 68 of the Constitution provides for the early termination of the President’s mandate. “in the event of a breach of his duties which is clearly incompatible with the exercise of his mandate” (before the reform, the required reason was “high treason”). This formulation, which remains very vague, was designed for “very serious acts”as a refusal to promulgate the laws, explained in 2011 the deputy Philippe Houillon, rapporteur of the organic bill.
But before we get to the point of impeachment, a long and delicate procedure must be followed.
What are the steps to follow?
Parliamentarians – senators or deputies – wishing to use this procedure must first draft a reasoned resolution proposal, justifying “reasons likely to characterize a breach within the meaning of the first paragraph of Article 68 of the Constitution”according to the terms of the organic law. They must then collect the signatures of at least one tenth of the members of their assembly (i.e. 58 deputies or 35 senators) to initiate the procedure. The LFI group, which has 72 deputies in the Palais-Bourbon, could therefore meet this first condition.
But the second step is more delicate: the bureau of the assembly concerned checks that the resolution proposal is admissible. In 2016, the attempt by the Republican deputies to end François Hollande’s mandate did not succeed in passing this filter. Currently, LFI does not hold the majority in the bureau of the National Assembly. Even if it is mainly in the hands of the NFP, the other movements of the coalition, notably the socialists, have for the moment kept away from this impeachment proposal.
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Then it is up to the Law Commission to decide. If it validates the proposal, the relevant assembly must adopt it by a two-thirds majority within fifteen days. A threshold that neither LFI nor even all the NFP parties reach on their own.
The process of the resolution proposal does not end there: it is then transmitted to the other chamber, which must follow the same steps – consultation of the Law Commission and vote within fifteen days. In this case, it is almost impossible, because the left is largely in the minority in the Senate, and LFI has no elected representatives there.
According to the procedure arising from Article 68, if both assemblies adopt the resolution, it is then necessary to convene the “Parliament constituted as a High Court”that is to say all the deputies and senators. Eleven deputies and eleven senators are designated by the offices of their assembly to form the office of the High Court and “organize the work” of this one.
A commission composed of six vice-presidents of the National Assembly and six vice-presidents of the Senate collects “any necessary information” to the instruction of the request for dismissal, with the powers of a commission of inquiry, and the possibility of hearing the head of state. It submits its report within fifteen days to the parliamentarians constituted as the High Court.
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At the end of the debates, which are public, the High Court can pronounce the dismissal of the head of state, but, here again, a two-thirds majority vote is required, or 617 out of 925 parliamentarians. This therefore requires a broad cross-party consensus, a condition which is far from being met at present.
