Still no announcement from French President Emmanuel Macron regarding the appointment of a prime minister. A wait that has lasted more than 50 days and that is unnerving not only the transalpine political world but all of France. The post-election Rubik’s cube seems to have no solution and Macron now also risks impeachment proceedings initiated by La France Insoumise, which adheres to the New Popular Front. Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s party, deprived of the opportunity to propose its own candidate Lucie Castets, intends to initiate proceedings against the tenant of the Elysée for having violated “the duty to respect the will expressed by universal suffrage”.
It would be a long and complex procedure, but the move could put pressure on the centrist president, who does not intend to give up his grip on the main government post. In the meantime, a new name has emerged from the list of possible candidates for Matignon: Michel Barnier. Whether he too will end up burned or survive the scorching French flames will be seen in the coming days, perhaps hours. In the meantime, Marine Le Pen is smiling, having emerged defeated in extremis from the vote of July 7 but who in this chaos could gain consensus in view of the 2027 presidential elections.
The possible candidates for Prime Minister
Although expected, no official announcement regarding the prime minister came on the evening of September 4. The latest move on Emmanuel Macron’s chessboard is this: among the possible nominations on the right, the name of Michel Barnier has emerged to replace Xavier Bertrand. This. “We are making progress. The President’s criteria remain that the future occupant of Matignon ‘must not be censured’ by the Assembly” and “that he is capable of forming coalitions,” a source close to the President told AFP.
Macron vs. Everyone: How France Falls Into Political Paralysis
Macron was reprimanded by his socialist predecessor François Hollande, who spoke on television of a “methodological error” regarding the choices made by the centrist leader, guilty of wanting to “solve the issue of governability alone”. According to the former president, this role belongs to the National Assembly. Another warning: Macron’s inability to change course in political terms, despite the fact that the polls punished him. At the top of the reforms disliked by the French population is that of pensions, but even on schools, the economy and the war in Ukraine applause is scarce.
Macron had relied on two names that, in his opinion, could have brought together a coalition between the center, socialists and the right. The Republican Xavier Bertrand and the former socialist Bernard Cazeneuve had been proposed. At the moment, two flops. The New Popular Front has chosen not to stand by and watch and is moving to “frame” Macron with a complex procedure, but one that would delegitimize the tenant of the Elysée if it were to succeed.
The difficult impeachment procedure against Macron
The 72 “rebel” deputies of the National Assembly, determined to call for the impeachment of the President of the French Republic, were joined on September 4 by six ecologists (formerly of the LFI) and three deputies from Reunion Island. The accusation against Macron stems from his refusal to nominate Lucie Castets, the name proposed by the New Popular Front, for Matignon. This motion for a resolution, submitted to the Bureau of the Assembly under Article 68 of the Constitution, was signed by 81 of the 577 deputies.
The ecologists Benjamin Lucas, Sandrine Rousseau, Clémentine Autain, Hendrik Davi, Danielle Simonnet and Alexis Corbière have joined the elected representatives of La France Insoumise, the radical left-wing party. The last four recently left LFI due to disagreements with its leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Then there are the elected representatives of Reunion Island (Karine Lebon, Emeline Kbidi and Frédéric Maillot) who are close to LFI and who are part of the group Gauche Démocratique et Républicaine (Democratic and Republican Left), which brings together communist deputies and members of the French overseas territories.
The signatories accuse Macron of “autocracy” and of undermining the independence of Parliament. To be approved, the impeachment would require the approval of two-thirds of the parliamentarians assembled in the High Court. At the moment, however, La France Insoumise is far from the necessary numbers and other elements on the left are reluctant to the procedure. Before the parliamentarians vote, the text must pass the scrutiny of the bureau of the presidency of the National Assembly. There is widespread skepticism among French deputies about the success of this path to corner Macron. “It’s all an act, it won’t succeed,” he declared to Franceinfo the deputy of the Rassemblement National Sébastien Chenu.
Le Pen’s role in the nomination of the prime minister
With his back to the left, Macron has fished out the name of Michel Barnier on the right, a 73-year-old politician and former commissioner at the European Union. Marine Le Pen’s far right considers him “a fossil” of political life, who “doesn’t make you dream,” but does not rule out voting for him, according to Chenu’s statements. At that point, President Macron, who had said he had called for early elections to prevent the far right from governing, would be much closer to Le Pen than anyone could have imagined.
