00:04The Cube
00:07Russia is planning more sabotage
00:13Russian hybrid war is kinetic
00:16The dangers Russia poses are clear
00:19French President Emmanuel Macron has echoed these warnings
00:22Saying the Russian threat against France has also intensified
00:26But a slew of social media accounts have alleged
00:29that he is bigging up the threat for his own personal gain,
00:32namely to put France at war with Russia
00:35and thereby postpone or cancel next year's presidential elections
00:39so he can continue past his two consecutive terms.
00:43Now, some social media accounts claim Macron
00:45will activate Article 16 of the French Constitution,
00:49granting him exceptional emergency powers
00:51during a severe national crisis.
00:54However, we spoke to experts who said that these theories are false.
00:59Firstly, the president cannot declare war on a country,
01:02according to Article 35 of the Constitution.
01:05Only Parliament can authorise an armed intervention by French armed forces.
01:12The government has to present that to Parliament.
01:16So it's not the decision formally of the president of the Republic,
01:19but that of the government.
01:20Even if France is attacked,
01:21postponing the elections would be difficult,
01:24again, because of the Constitution.
01:26It clearly establishes a calendar,
01:28A new president must be elected 35 days before
01:31or a maximum of 25 days after
01:34the mandate of the current leader ends.
01:36Elections can only be postponed
01:38if a candidate dies or is incapacitated.
01:41Even if Article 16 were activated,
01:44the main argument behind these theories,
01:46the president can only take legislative and administrative measures,
01:50but not constitutional ones,
01:52making it even less likely that Macron would move the elections.
01:58could only be postponed to the public,
01:59That is not the only way that the law of the state is
01:59is not the only way that the person can be
01:59The law of the Constitution looks at the current law
01:59is a model of two states.
01:59That is a model of a model of a state of the state of the state,
01:59and who's in place.
02:00Dziękuje za uwagę.
