“Chief of the armed forces for the president, it’s an honorary title,” said Marine Le Pen in an interview with Télégramme, addressing the question of defense and the war in Ukraine. A sentence that caused an outcry, but what is it really?
A matter of sharing. While Emmanuel Macron had not ruled out sending French troops to Ukrainian soil last February, Marine Le Pen was questioned about the country’s defense by Le Télégramme a few days before the legislative elections. “Chief of the armed forces, for the president, it is an honorary title since it is the Prime Minister who holds the purse strings,” declared the politician.
“Jordan (Bardella) has no intention of picking a fight with him, but he has set red lines. On Ukraine, the president will not be able to send troops,” she added. “Without calling into question the reserved domain of the President of the Republic, in matters of sending troops abroad, the Prime Minister has, through budgetary control, the means of opposing it,” she said. then qualified to X a few hours ago.
A position which provoked reactions, in particular the president of MoDem, François Bayrou. “When there are divisions (…) we have a safeguard, it is the Constitution of the Fifth Republic. (…) If you claim that these are titles for show, you are deeply calling into question the Constitution,” he declared on CNEWS, invoking articles 13 and 15 of the fundamental text.
According to article 13, the President of the Republic “signs the orders and decrees deliberated in the Council of Ministers. He appoints to civil and military posts in the State. In article 15, the head of state is thus described as “the head of the armies. He chairs the councils and higher committees of national defense, a title which is therefore not considered honorary.
Recall of General de Gaulle
Also in response to Marine Le Pen’s remarks, the Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu relayed the statements that General de Gaulle had made during a speech broadcast in September 1962.
“According to the Constitution, the president is, in fact, (…) guarantor of the independence and integrity of the country, as well as of the treaties which bind him. In short, he answers for France. (…) The Head of State needs adequate means. The Constitution gives them to him. (…). In the essential areas of foreign policy and national security, he is required to take direct action, since under the Constitution, he negotiates and concludes treaties, since he is the head of the armies, since he presides to the defense.”
However, is Emmanuel Macron the sole decision-maker? According to article 19, “the acts of the President of the Republic other than those provided for in articles 8 (1st paragraph), 11, 12, 16, 18, 54, 56 and 61 are countersigned by the Prime Minister and, where applicable , by the responsible ministers. “The Government determines and conducts the policy of the Nation” and “it has the administration and the armed force”, indicates the following article.
The agreement to a declaration of war must also be authorized by Parliament according to article 35 of the Constitution. “When the duration of the intervention exceeds four months, the Government submits its extension to Parliament for authorization. He may ask the National Assembly to decide as a last resort,” specifies paragraph 3.
