By Vivian Song
France’s far-Left party is threatening to launch legal action against Emmanuel Macron if he fails to select their candidate for prime minister.
Senior members of France Unbowed (LFI) said they had a “solemn warning” for the president that their patience is running thin and they are ready to pull the trigger on impeachment proceedings.
Article 68 of the constitution allows the French parliament to dismiss the president for “failure to fulfil his duties manifestly incompatible with the exercise of the mandate.”
Six weeks after the legislative elections, in which the New Popular Front coalition of Leftist parties won the most seats but fell short of the 289 seats needed to form an absolute majority, the country is still without a prime minister and a government.
Mr Macron called for a political truce during the Paris Olympics but has faced criticism for dragging his feet now that the Games are over.
Last month, Mr Macron dismissed the Leftist alliance’s candidate for prime minister, Lucie Castets. He argued that the senior civil servant and former economic adviser to Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, would not be able to create consensus within parliament.
Ms Castets has pledged to undo Mr Macron’s pension reforms taking the age of retirement from 62 to 65.
LFI has called Mr Macron’s refusal to select Ms Castets an “institutional coup against democracy”.
“It is obvious that the refusal to acknowledge a legislative election and the decision to ignore it constitute a reprehensible failure to meet the basic requirements of the presidential mandate,” the party wrote in an opinion piece in La Tribune on Sunday.
But in a sign that the Leftist coalition, which is made up of Greens, Socialists and France Unbowed, is cracking, Socialist leader Olivier Faure said his party does not support the LFI’s threats of legal action.
“This article is signed only by the leaders of LFI. It commits only their movement,” Mr Faure said.
He also said that impeachment is “impractical” as it requires two-thirds support in both lower and upper assemblies.
On Aug 23, Mr Macron will meet leaders of political and parliamentary groups, including Ms Castets, with a view to naming a prime minister.
But observers have called the invitation to Ms Castets a mere formality, saying the odds of her being given the post are slim.
Along with raising the minimum wage to €1,600 (£1,360) a month, her plan for government would include squashing Mr Macron’s contentious retirement reforms by decree.
“Everyone knows it’s dead, but we have to keep up the pressure on Emmanuel Macron since we came out on top,” one unnamed socialist MP told Le Figaro.
It is expected that the future prime minister will be a figure born from a coalition between Macronistes and the Right. A few other names that have been circulating include Xavier Bertrand, Republican president of the Hauts-de-France region, and Bernard Cazeneuve, the former Socialist prime minister.
On Sunday, during a speech to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the south-eastern town of Bormes-les-Mimosas, Mr Macron appealed for unity in the same spirit of those who participated in the Provence landings, which included many from French overseas colonies in Africa.
“Let us not give into division. Let us remain this people always capable of reversing the inevitability of destiny, this nation in solidarity with all those who want to remain free,” he said.
•Source: The Telegraph
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