(Paris) French deputies voted on Wednesday to censure the government in place for barely three months, a first in France since 1962 which aggravates political and economic uncertainty in a pivotal country of the European Union.
Posted at 6:57 a.m.
Updated at 2:32 p.m.
Boris BACHORZ and the AFP political service
Agence France-Presse
After three and a half hours of very heated debates in a packed chamber, 331 deputies finally decided to bring down the executive, while 288 votes were required.
“Due to the motion of censure, […] the Prime Minister must submit the resignation of the government to the President of the Republic,” declared the President of the National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet at the Perch.
Having just returned from a state visit to Saudi Arabia, Mr. Macron must appoint a new prime minister under the Constitution.
To achieve censorship, parliamentarians from the left and the far-right National Rally party, as well as its allies, voted together to censor the government on budgetary issues, while France is very heavily in debt.
The leaders of this alliance of circumstance clearly suggested that beyond the right and center government of Michel Barnier, it was Emmanuel Macron who was in their sights, even if the fate of the French president, whose mandate runs until 2027, is not legally linked to that of the executive.
La France insoumise (radical left), through the voice of the group’s president in the Assembly Mathilde Panot, immediately asked “Emmanuel Macron to leave”, demanding “early presidential elections”.
PHOTO SARAH MEYSSONNIER, REUTERS
Mathilde Panot
The leader of the French far right Marine Le Pen estimated that the government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier must fall, because it perpetuates “the technocratic choices” of President Macron, elected in 2017 and re-elected in 2022, currently at its lowest in the polls.
The three-time unsuccessful candidate in the presidential election, including twice against Mr. Macron, added that he had to “conclude himself if he [était] able to stay [président de la République] or not.”
Mr. Barnier spoke before the vote, less to dissuade elected officials from voting for censure than to set a date in the event of the overthrow of his government. France devotes 60 billion euros per year to paying interest on its debt, more than for its defense or higher education, he recalled.
“We can say what we want, it’s reality. Believe me: this reality will not disappear by the magic of a motion of censure,” he warned.
Call for responsibility
This censorship follows months of crisis, triggered by the dissolution of the National Assembly desired by the head of state after the rout of his European camp in the face of the far right.
The anticipated legislative elections which followed resulted in the formation of an assembly fractured into three blocs (alliance of the left, Macronists and right, extreme right), none of which has an absolute majority. After 50 days of negotiations, a government of the right and the center was finally appointed at the beginning of September.
The fall of the executive after only three months in office constitutes a record for brevity since the adoption in 1958 of the French Constitution.
The two motions were tabled after the Prime Minister triggered article 49.3 of the Constitution on Tuesday, allowing a text to be adopted without a vote on the Social Security budget.
A decision taken at the end of several days of tough budgetary discussions, during which Mr. Barnier gave in to several demands from the far right, who were always demanding more, according to him.
Red signals
From Saudi Arabia, where he was on a state visit, the French president for his part affirmed that he could “not believe in the vote of censorship” of the government. Mr Macron was due to return to Paris on Wednesday evening, in time to receive Michel Barnier’s resignation.
It will be up to Mr. Macron to appoint a new prime minister, against a backdrop of the country’s growing debt. Expected at 6.1% of GDP in 2024, much higher than the 4.4% forecast for fall 2023, the public deficit will miss its target of 5% in the absence of a budget, and political uncertainty will weigh on the cost of debt and growth.
Both the left, the center and the right appear disunited to agree on a new coalition government.
Marine Le Pen has her eyes fixed on the next presidential election scheduled for 2027. But her political destiny is suspended on a court decision expected on March 31. She risks five years of ineligibility with immediate effect for misappropriation of funds from the European Parliament for the benefit of her party.
Political instability partly explains the nervousness of the markets, in a context of heavy debt: France’s 10-year borrowing rate even rose, on November 27, very briefly above that of Greece, traditional poor student in this area in the EU.
