France Insoumise achieves first milestone: Macron impeachment proposal deemed admissible

September 17, 2024 – France Insoumise marks a milestone today with the acceptance of the motion for a resolution to impeach President Emmanuel Macron. The Bureau of the National Assembly validated the proposal by 12 votes to 10, inaugurating the start of a complex parliamentary process. However, this initial victory is far from guaranteeing Macron’s imminent departure from the Élysée.

First step successfully validated

This morning, the Bureau of the National Assembly, the equivalent of a board of directors at the Palais-Bourbon, approved the admissibility of the impeachment procedure. This decision marks an important step in the progress of the proposal tabled by 81 deputies from La France Insoumise, the ecologists and the communists.

Next phase: transmission to the Law Commission

The proposal will now be forwarded to the Law Commission, although there is no fixed timetable for its examination. This committee will play a key role in the study and possible recommendation of the text. If the text is voted in committee, it will have to be placed on the Assembly’s agenda within 13 to 15 days.

Changes in the Socialist Party’s position

Although the Socialist deputies did not sign the proposal, a meeting on Monday evening led the Socialist representatives on the Bureau to approve its admissibility. Christine Pirès-Beaune, Iñaki Echaniz and Sophie Pantel supported the text, a notable turnaround after the pressure exerted by Jean-Luc Mélenchon at the Humanité festival. However, the Socialists clearly distanced themselves from the final adoption of the text, announcing their intention to vote against it in the Assembly.

Uncertain prospects for the proposal

The road ahead remains fraught with pitfalls: the proposal will need the approval of two-thirds of the deputies, or 385 votes, once it has passed through the Law Commission. Given the current configuration of the Assembly, this objective seems difficult to achieve, even with the moderate support of the Socialists.

The Macronists could also try to obstruct the Law Committee, invoking a decision by the Constitutional Council to avoid debate in the Assembly. If the proposal reaches the hemicycle and is adopted there, it will then be examined by the Senate, where the right-wing and center-right majority makes success even more unlikely.

A historic first for the Assembly

Despite the many remaining obstacles, La France Insoumise is delighted with this first victory. If the text reaches the hemicycle, it will be a first in the history of the Fifth Republic, with deputies confronted with the question of impeaching a sitting president. LFI deputy Antoine Léaument hailed the development as a “parliamentary riposte to Emmanuel Macron’s power grab,” while Mathilde Panot, the group’s leader, described the event as “unprecedented.”

The next few days will be crucial in determining the future of this exceptional procedure, as France Insoumise continues to navigate its way through parliamentary challenges.