PARIS, October 8. /TASS/. The Bureau of French National Assembly - the supreme collegiate authority of the French parliament’s lower chamber - has rejected a motion to launch an impeachment procedure against President Emmanuel Macron, filed by the country’s left-wing opposition, the Le Figaro newspaper wrote.

The Bureau saw no grounds for considering the motion. It was put forward by the left-wing La France Insoumise (France Unbowed) party and signed by 104 members of the parliament.

The impeachment procedure is laid out in Article 68 of the French Constitution. At the first stage, 58 lawmakers - or one tenth of the French parliament’s lower chamber - must sign off on the action. After that, the Bureau of French National Assembly is to decide whether a draft resolution on the subject should be formally considered. Only after the draft is approved by a relevant parliamentary committee is it put to a vote in the National Assembly, where two thirds of lawmakers should support it. After that, the bill goes to the upper chamber, the Senate. If both chambers vote in favor of the initiative, lawmakers and senators are to gather for a joint session for the final vote. To be adopted, an impeachment bill needs to be approved by at least 617 out of the 925 members of the parliament.

La France Insoumise put forward a similar motion last year. Although it was approved by the Bureau of French National Assembly, it was later rejected by the parliamentary committee on legislative matters, where the leaders of all factions except for the New Popular Front and the National Rally voted against bringing it before the parliament’s lower chamber.