Impeachment proceedings against Emmanuel Macron to be examined on 2 October: a path strewn with pitfalls

On 2 October, the Law Commission will examine the motion for a resolution to initiate impeachment proceedings against the President of the Republic. Announced by Jérémie Iodarnoff, an ecologist MP and the text’s rapporteur, the initiative is supported mainly by members of La France insoumise. However, it is meeting with marked scepticism and has little chance of success. Especially as no one seems to really want to take power. At least that’s the rumour circulating in the corridors of the Assembly. And still in those same corridors, no economic power from here or elsewhere is planning any change.

Although 81 MPs, including 72 from La France insoumise, have signed the proposal, its future seems compromised. Indeed, the members of the Socialist group at the National Assembly recently indicated that they would support the examination in committee but would vote against the final adoption of the text. They consider this approach ‘doomed to failure’ and fear that it will give Emmanuel Macron additional legitimacy.

For an impeachment procedure to succeed, it is imperative to obtain the backing of two-thirds of parliamentarians, both deputies and senators, meeting in the High Court. The process must first be approved by the National Assembly and the Senate. If the Law Committee approves the resolution, the Assembly’s Conference of Presidents will then have to decide whether to consider it in plenary session.