Emmanuel Macron under threat of a motion of impeachment. After the new refusal, on Monday, of the President of the Republic to appoint a government of the New Popular Front (NFP), LFI announced its intentions in a press release. A “motion of impeachment will be presented by the rebellious deputies to the office of the National Assembly in accordance with article 68 of the Constitution.”
But is it so easy to remove the head of state? In January 2023, the idea of removing Emmanuel Macron had already emerged among some, in the midst of the blockage of the pension reform. We had devoted an article to it. So today we remind you how our institutions work in this case, and the difficulty of removing a president.
How to file a request for impeachment?
Article 68 of the Constitution provides that a President of the Republic may only be dismissed “in the event of a breach of his duties that is manifestly incompatible with the exercise of his mandate.” The problem lies in the interpretation of this formula. “The spirit is not to prosecute the President of the Republic for a political issue,” explained in January 2023, to 20 Minutes, Véronique Champeil-Desplats, professor of public law at the University of Paris-Nanterre. Something more is needed.
So when does Article 68 of the Constitution apply? “There is no definition, it is very vague,” says Véronique Champeil-Desplats. “It is the High Court, that is to say the National Assembly and the Senate, which, when it meets, will decide on a case-by-case basis what these grounds might be. The idea is not to leave in place a president who is guilty of breaches of the Constitution.”
How to file an impeachment petition?
Any citizen who comes along cannot request the impeachment of the head of state. The motion for a resolution for impeachment is initiated by deputies or senators. One tenth of one of the two chambers must sign it (i.e. 58 deputies or 35 senators). And it must be justified. On the first point, this should not pose a problem, since LFI has 71 deputies. They undoubtedly have the motivation, but will it be validated by the bureau of the Assembly? It is the bureau that examines the request for admissibility.
Since the constitutional revision of 2007, only one motion of impeachment has been presented: it was presented by 79 LR deputies against François Hollande after the publication in 2016 of the book A president should not say that, in which he spoke to journalists from World particularly on “national defence”. The office had rejected the request, considering that it was inadmissible because it “did not justify reasons likely to characterise a breach”.
How is an impeachment request voted on?
If the office had validated it, it would then have been examined by the competent review committee. Once this stage has been completed, it must be debated by the National Assembly or the Senate, and adopted by a two-thirds majority of its members. Then the proposal is transmitted to the other assembly, which must decide within fifteen days. If both assemblies adopt it, the High Court must meet and decide within a month. Here again, a two-thirds majority is required (i.e. 617 parliamentarians) to pronounce the dismissal of the President of the Republic. In short, it is not a done deal for LFI.
Failing that, its elected officials, its activists and several union organizations will demonstrate on September 7 “against Emmanuel Macron’s coup.”