Far-right National Rally (RN) President Jordan Bardella announced this week that if Marine Le Pen is elected president, she would immediately call for a referendum to revise the Constitution, AFP reported today. The proposed changes aim to implement national preference and address migration issues, potentially leading to conflict with the Constitutional Council.
Bardella stated, “As soon as we win, we will submit a constitutional referendum on immigration.” The goals include ending birthright citizenship, restricting family reunification, prioritising national access to social benefits, and enforcing stricter asylum laws.
Le Pen’s proposal, submitted to the National Assembly for 2024, includes 14 articles focused on “the protection of French identity” and aims to negate the supremacy of European law over national law. She intends to use the referendum to facilitate other popular consultations, such as a proposed ban on wearing the veil in public.
Title XVI of the Constitution (Article 89), titled “On Revision,” requires that a draft constitutional revision be voted on in “identical terms” by both the Assembly and the Senate before being approved by referendum or a 3/5 majority in Congress. If the RN aims for a majority in the Assembly after a presidential election dissolution, it will face a Senate dominated by a centre-right majority that may resist the proposed changes.
To bypass the Senate’s potential opposition, the RN will use Article 11, which allows referendums “on the organisation of public powers,” drawing on the 1962 precedent when General de Gaulle held a referendum on presidential elections by universal suffrage.
However, since then, the Constitutional Council has gained significant authority by asserting its right to review the legality of referendum decrees and the constitutionality of related texts, thereby preventing unconstitutional questions from being posed to the public.
The Council’s rulings indicate that those organising illegal referendums could face prosecution. Within the RN, there is confidence that the Council will not block a referendum, considering the legitimacy of a new president. Jordan Bardella remarked that in such a case, Parliament would need to be consulted to expand the referendum’s scope.
