Text from Mathilde Panot, Manuel Bompard, Nadège Abomangoli, Manon Aubry, Eric Coquerel, Clémence Guetté, Marina Mesure et Jean-Luc Mélenchon published in La Tribune Dimanche on August 18, 2024.

Emmanuel Macron is said to be about to appoint the head of the French government without taking into account the political result of the latest legislative elections, which he lost after previously losing the European elections. This would be an unprecedented decision in the world of parliamentary systems and representative democracy. In European countries inside and outside the EU, everyone had already expressed their surprise at the so-called Olympic political truce and at the fact that a resigned government doing far more than simply dealing with current affairs was being maintained for an unlimited period of time. Everyone also said how strange it was to see the President of the French Republic brush aside not only the result of the vote, but also Lucie Castets, the person proposed as Prime Minister by the leading coalition – the New Popular Front. 

The objection presented by the Macronists is well known: nobody has an absolute majority, so nobody has won, and nobody has the right to claim leadership of a new government. Such an argument might have been heard had France not already experienced the opposite. Indeed, the country was governed with no absolute majority the day after the 2022 legislative election. Incidentally, this time, immediately after the dissolution, the Macronist Minister of the Interior asserted that even with a relative majority, the leading coalition would be legitimate to govern! No doubt he was hoping to return to the previous situation…

Under these conditions, the President’s decision can be described as an institutional coup against democracy. It comes after a long series of decisions marking an authoritarian evolution of the regime with no consequences. From now on, we are in the waters of “illiberalism” against which the Macronists pretended to speak out regarding Viktor Orbán in Hungary. But perhaps the President believes he has absolutely no institutional constraints in such a situation? It is not the case. The means exist for Parliament to put an end to such a notoriously undemocratic abuse of power.

Of course, the no-confidence motion can bring down, as soon as it is presented, the new government of the president’s good pleasure. But we can’t leave it at that. The cause of this abuse of power must be identified and sanctioned. It is the President of the Republic himself. The means for this action exists within the current institutional framework. Article 68 of the Constitution defines the conditions for the dismissal of the President. The Head of State may be impeached in the event of a “failure to fulfill his duties manifestly incompatible with the exercise of the mandate”. The organic law that introduced the practical provisions of this article makes it clear that it does not refer solely to possible breaches of the law. It is the National Assembly alone which decides whether it is the case.

In this case, it is obvious that the refusal to acknowledge a legislative election and his decision to disregard it constitute a reprehensible failure to meet the basic requirements of the presidential mandate, as the latter makes the President responsible for the respect of democracy and how it is organized in France.

The impeachment process is simple. The proposition must first be made and submitted to the Bureau of the National Assembly. Today, the New Popular Front has a majority in the Assembly. The Bureau could therefore accept the proposition before passing it on to the Law Commission, where the President’s supporters are in a minority. The text would then have to be put on the agenda of the Assembly and submitted to the vote of all MPs. Everyone would have to take their responsibilities. It is likely that the motion would be adopted, since the President’s supporters represent less than a third of the MPs.

This proposition would send out a signal of democratic resistance of the highest order. It would show that the President of the Republic in France is not a monarch with a suspensive veto over the result of a democratic vote. It would be a reminder that in the Republic, the only sovereign is the people. The people’s sovereignty is above that of all the bodies that are supposed to embody it in the ordinary way: the President, the current MPs, and so on. This right had already been denied to Louis XVI in 1789, even before the Republic was established. How could it be granted to Macron in 2024? Why allow a denial of the people’s sovereignty when the legal and peaceful means to prevent it exist?

If this means of action against Macron’s coup de force were to be used, it would obviously have to be carefully explained to our people and methodically used. It goes without saying that this is an important and serious decision. Ideally, it should have a solid procedure and as collective a basis as possible. That’s why we believe it’s up to the leaders of the parties in our coalition and the Presidents of our parliamentary groups to debate the matter and make their respective decisions.

This tribune is given a concrete role as a solemn warning. The President must accept the results of the legislative vote and appoint Lucie Castets as Prime Minister, as proposed by the New Popular Front. If he fails to do so, he must know that all constitutional means will be used to dismiss him rather than submitting to his ill move against the basic rule of democracy: in France, the only master is the popular vote!

The list of the signatories:

Mathilde Panot, President of the group LFI-NFP in the French National Assembly

Manuel Bompard, Coordinator of the political movement La France insoumise (France Unbowed)

Nadège Abomangoli, Vice-President of the French National Assembly

Manon Aubry, co-President of the groupe The Left in the European Parliament 

Éric Coquerel, President of the Finance Commission at the French National Assembly 

Clémence Guetté, First Vice-President of the French National Assembly and co-President of La Boëtie Foundation 

Marina Mesure, President of the LFI delegation in the European Parliament 

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, co-President of La Boëtie Foundation