France’s left wing threatens Macron with impeachment over PM deadlock

PARIS — France’s President Emmanuel Macron is facing renewed political pressure now that the political truce he requested during the Paris Olympics has come to an end.

In a column published on Sunday, the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party threatened legal action against Macron if he failed to appoint a prime minister from the left-wing coalition, the New Popular Front (NFP), in the coming days.

“We are writing this open letter as a solemn warning,” wrote the column’s signatories, which include LFI firebrand leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

Article 68 of the Constitution allows the French parliament to dismiss the president for “failure to fulfil his duties manifestly incompatible with the exercise of the mandate”.

After Macron called for snap parliamentary elections in July, no party managed to secure an absolute majority of 289 seats.

The NFP, which won the most seats in the election (193), claims that the future prime minister should come from its ranks.

After lengthy and tense negotiations in July, the NFP finally agreed to nominate civil servant and economist Lucie Castets as its choice for future prime minister. She is largely unknown to the general public.

Emmanuel Macron is set to meet leaders from various political parties on Friday to find a solution to the current political deadlock.

The French president, who has the power to appoint the leader of the government, has agreed that Lucie Castets should be present during the discussions but has ruled her out for the position.

Regardless, the LFI’s threat of impeachment is unlikely to succeed amid divided ranks. the Socialist Party which is part of the NFP coalition, has rejected the threat of an impeachment procedure.

“This article is signed only by the leaders of France Unbowed. It commits only their movement,” said Olivier Faure, the leader of the Socialist Party, on social media platform X.

Moreover, an impeachment requires two-thirds support in both the National Assembly and the Senate, which will be tough to achieve.

Several names have emerged as possible candidates for prime minister, including the right-wing former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, the former right-wing minister Xavier Bertrand, and Bernard Cazeneuve, the former socialist prime minister. — Euronews