French Parliament Approves Impeachment Resolution Against Macron

The French parliament has taken the unprecedented step after the president appointed a minority PM

A proposal to impeach French President Emmanuel Macron has cleared a key procedural hurdle in the parliament and will be sent to a committee for review.

The New Popular Front (NPF) coalition, which won the most National Assembly seats in this summer’s legislative elections, but not enough to have a majority, announced the measure earlier this month, after Macron rejected their candidate for prime minister, Lucie Castets.

More than 80 NPF lawmakers had signed the proposal, meeting the constitutional requirement to secure the support of at least 10% of the 577-member parliament. On Monday, the NPF petition was approved in a 12-10 vote in the Bureau of the National Assembly, the parliamentary managing body. 

“Great news,” Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of the largest coalition partner, France Unbowed (LFI), on X. “Rejecting the result of the universal vote will not remain without consequences for Macron.”

The petition will now be considered by the Legal Committee. The Assembly is required to include it on the agenda within two weeks of the committee’s conclusion, whenever that occurs.

If the resolution reaches the parliament’s agenda, it would be the first time in the history of the Fifth Republic that the National Assembly would discuss the recall of the head of state, according to French media.

Actually impeaching Macron would require a two-thirds vote in the National Assembly, or 385 members. However, all of the opposition combined only holds 364 seats. Should it somehow be approved, the resolution would be sent to the Senate, where it would require 232 votes. 

Macron formed a tactical alliance with the NPF in the second round of the legislative elections in July, when it appeared that the right-wing populist National Rally (RN) might emerge victorious. As a result, the NPF came in first with 180 seats, followed by Macron’s bloc with 159, while the number of RN legislators was reduced to 142. The Republicans (LR), which had split over backing the RN, won only 39 seats. 

The president initially chose to keep Gabriel Attal as prime minister in a technical mandate, before appointing Michel Barnier of LR on September 5.