A proposed resolution aimed at initiating impeachment proceedings against President Emmanuel Macron will be examined by the Laws Committee on October 2, according to an announcement made by Jérémie Iordanoff, Green Party MP and rapporteur of the text.
This draft resolution, signed by 81 deputies, 72 of whom belong to the La France Insoumise (LFI) group, has little chance of success. For such a procedure to succeed, it must obtain the approval of two-thirds of parliamentarians, including deputies and senators.
Auditions planned?
Jérémie Iordanoff, appointed rapporteur of this text, was appointed eight days after the bureau of the National Assembly deemed the proposal admissible. The Green MP said he wanted to organize a “series of hearings in order to clarify the precise scope of article 68 of the Constitution in its wording resulting from the constitutional revision of 2007.”
According to him, “the examination of the substance of an impeachment procedure is unprecedented”, which justifies the need for these hearings to better understand the legal and constitutional framework of this initiative.
Strong opposition from several groups
Politically, this proposal is facing strong opposition, including from the groups that accepted its transmission to the Law Commission. The Socialists, although having allowed this examination, have firmly indicated that they would vote “unanimously” against the procedure. According to them, the impeachment attempt is “doomed to failure” and risks conferring “new legitimacy” on the President of the Republic.
On the communist side, the majority of deputies also seem reluctant to support this resolution. Stéphane Peu, a communist deputy, suggested that most of his colleagues would “surely be in the majority not to vote for the resolution”. The National Rally (RN), for its part, totally rejected this initiative. Marine Le Pen described this approach as a “smoke screen” orchestrated by the “extreme left” with the aim of “trying to make people forget its multiple compromises with Macron’s party”.
“Agents of permanent destabilization”
In the presidential camp, the reaction was even more virulent. Gabriel Attal, former Prime Minister and current president of the Renaissance group in the National Assembly, denounced the motion and the debate surrounding it as a “declaration of war on our institutions.” He called the authors of this resolution “agents of permanent destabilization.”
Regardless of the vote in committee, it is up to the Conference of Presidents of the National Assembly to decide whether or not the text will be submitted for examination in plenary session. This decision must be taken within a maximum of 13 days after the Laws Committee has given its verdict.