French leftists seek to impeach Macron

The ongoing political wrangling over who will form the next government in France has taken a new twist after the radical left-wing La France Insoumise party, also known as LFI, tried to rally other groups to bring impeachment proceedings against President Emmanuel Macron, for what it regards as serious failings in his constitutional duties.

Earlier in the summer, Macron announced a surprise election for seats in the National Assembly, in a bid to call the bluff of the electorate over rising support from the far-right National Rally party, or RN.

Although the two-round vote saw RN relegated to being the third-largest bloc in the parliament, a loose coalition of left-wing parties emerged as the largest grouping, ahead of Macron's own centrists, but, crucially, without an overall majority.

After a temporary lull in political activity during the Paris Olympic Games, talks have resumed over who should be the next prime minister and what the make-up of the next Cabinet should be, but so far there has been little progress.

Macron has already rejected one name put forward by some left-wing parties to be prime minister, economist Lucie Castets, saying he had a duty to ensure "institutional stability" and that she is regarded as someone who would not gain wider support and approval, leading to constitutional deadlock.

This has prompted LFI to take action, saying it is not up to the president to do "political horse trading".

Mathilde Panot, the parliamentary leader of LFI, said a draft impeachment document has been sent to assembly members from other parties in a bid to gain their support.

"The Assemblee Nationale (lower house) and Senat (upper house) can and must defend democracy against the president's authoritarian leanings," the document said.

The impeachment bid looks to be largely symbolic rather than meaningful, however, with two-thirds of the combined members of the 577-seat national assembly and 349-seat Senate needing to support any action for it to be successful.

Article 68 of the French Constitution says a presidential mandate can be terminated early "in the event of a breach of duty manifestly incompatible with the exercise of his mandate".

Macron won a second five-year term in 2022, but National Assembly elections shortly after saddled him with a parliament that was of a different political make-up, a situation that has not been cleared up by this summer's election results.

Political observers have noted that the Constitution lacks clear guidelines on how a hung parliament, which is one with no overall majority as is the current situation, should be managed, as it seems to have been written on the assumption that there would always be a clear majority group or party.