The leaders of the far-left party France Insoumise (LFI) have accused President Emmanuel Macron of an “institutional coup against democracy” for refusing to appoint a left-wing prime minister.
The president of France, Emmanuel Macronfaces renewed political pressure now that the political truce it requested during the Paris Olympic Games has come to an end.
In a column published on Sunday, the party far leftRebellious France (LFI) threatened to undertake legal actions against Macron if he did not name a prime minister from the left-wing coalition, the New Popular Front (NFP), in the coming days.
“We write this open letter as a solemn warning,” wrote the column’s signatories, including the incendiary LFI leader, Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Article 68 of the Constitution allows the French Parliament remove the president by “failure to perform duties manifestly incompatible with the exercise of the mandate”.
After Macron called early parliamentary elections in Julyno party managed to take over absolute majority of 289 seats. The NFP, which won the largest number of seats in the elections (193), demands that the future prime minister come from its ranks.
After long and tense negotiations in July, the CCN finally agreed to appoint the official and economist Lucie Castets as future prime minister. Castets is largely unknown to the general public.
An unlikely impeachment procedure
Emmanuel Macron plans to meet on Friday with leaders of various parties politicians to find a solution to the current political blockade.
The French president, who has the power to appoint the leader of the Government, has accepted that Lucie Castets be present during the conversations, but the ruled out for office. The Socialist Party, which is part of the NFP coalition, has rejected the threat of impeachment proceedings.
“This article is signed only by the leaders of La Francia Insumisa. It only compromises your movement,” declared Olivier Faure, leader of the Socialist Party, on the X social media platform.
Furthermore, an impeachment requires the two-thirds support both in the National Assembly and in the Senate, which will be difficult to achieve.
Several names have emerged as possible candidates for prime minister, including the right-wing Michel Barnier, former negotiator Brexitthe former right-wing minister Xavier Bertrand and Bernard Cazeneuve, former socialist prime minister.
