'Impeachment for Macron': French protest against 'president-monarch'
4 Min Read
Massive protests have erupted across France since Macron announced a new administration led by Prime Minister Michel Barnier.
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French protests hold up signs in the streets of Lyon on September 22, 2024. (Social media)
Thousands of people have marched in the streets of Paris and other French towns demanding President Emmanuel Macron's resignation and impeachment.
Massive protests erupted across France when Macron announced a new administration led by Prime Minister Michel Barnier on Saturday, six weeks after an inconclusive legislative election.
Paris saw the largest protest with organizers saying the turnout reached almost 40,000 people. Protests also took place in Lyon, Nantes, Marseille, Bordeaux, Angouleme, and Strasbourg.
🔴📺 Macron debe elegir entre el impeachment y la dimisión. #MarcheDestitution
— RG Chavez (@renzi007) September 21, 2024
🗽🗽🗽🗽🗽🗽🗽🗽🗽🗽🗽🗽⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️ pic.twitter.com/dAmE9PoLRi
Protesters held flags and placards reading "Rule by idiots" and "Impeachment for Macron" and demanded the President's resignation.
Some donned Macron masks adorned with crowns, accusing the French president of plotting a "coup de force" to become a "president-monarch" with Barnier's appointment.
The irate protesters condemned Macron and his new conservative prime minister, alleging they had ignored the July legislative election and are upset with a government that they said did not reflect the election results.
Protesters were also seen screaming chants against the Macron-Barnier administration, urging people to mobilize against them and protect their right to pick their leaders.
One protester expressed that the people will "never give in, that we will never accept the anti-democratic power grab by the president of the republic," while another said, "Macron no longer has any legitimacy in power... The French people voted, and it was clear that the New Popular Front (NFP) alliance was in the lead. But [Macron] took as prime minister one of the group that received the fewest votes."
Macron nominated Barnier, a 73-year-old former foreign minister who served as the European Union's Brexit negotiator, as prime minister following quick elections in which his centrist coalition finished second.
However, the NFP, a left-wing alliance that emerged as France's largest political party during the June-July elections, has opposed Macron's choice of Barnier.
The alliance wants Lucie Castets, a 37-year-old economist, to be prime minister instead.
Protests in France calling for the impeachment of Micro Macron. pic.twitter.com/16pVsFoZdj
— 🔻Hind Alliyaah🔻 (@Hindeyya7) September 21, 2024
Macron declined to appoint the NFP's nominee, prompting charges that he "denies democracy".
When the French presidential palace announced a long-awaited new administration on Saturday, dominated by conservatives and centrists, the demonstrators interpreted this as a gesture of "disrespect" for the left-wing alliance's electoral success and democracy in general.
This happened more than two months after the elections, which resulted in a hung parliament and widened political differences as France grappled with mounting financial and diplomatic issues.
In addition to widespread unhappiness, France's new administration must address a host of issues, ranging from tax policy to the fiscal crisis.
Many experts have cautioned that getting legislation passed via a deeply divided parliament will be a significant problem.
🇫🇷The F*ck Macron March in Paris…
— Anna (@provemewrong411) September 21, 2024
Macron, like other globalists, is willing destroying his country and ruining the future for the French. He not only deserves impeachment but should also face trial for crimes against his own citizens…. pic.twitter.com/Dv0qBhoOU3
No-confidence vote looms for France’s new government
Barnier's new administration is already under fire from opposition MPs on both sides, with rising fears of a no-confidence vote in parliament.
Left-wing opposition MPs quickly declared intentions to undercut Barnier's administration with a no-confidence move in parliament.
Macron's Renaissance party was obliged to renounce several significant cabinet seats but still managed to acquire 12 out of 39, causing Fabien Roussel, the Communist party's chairman, to remark, "This is not a new government, it's a reshuffle."
François Hollande, a socialist former French president, said a no-confidence vote was "a good solution," describing the government as "the same as before, but with an even stronger rightwing makeup," and predicted that it will "mete out painful measures on our fellow citizens."
A no-confidence motion would require an absolute majority in parliament, forcing the administration to resign immediately.
However, commentators said the scenario was unlikely to occur since it would need the far-right and leftist blocs, which are arch-foes, to vote together.
Barnier's first major issue will be to provide a 2025 budget plan that addresses what he has described as France's "very serious" financial situation.
The government has been chastised for violating the European Union's budget regulations.
The reform budget will be submitted to parliament in October by Antoine Armand, the new 33-year-old finance minister.
