In the National Assembly,
For two hours, Michel Barnier listened without blinking, sitting on his bench. Unmoved by attacks from the National Rally and the left, the Prime Minister occasionally glances at his notes, pen in hand. The gesture is mechanical, as if he were trying to escape the infernal hubbub of a very agitated National Assembly. Around 7 p.m., he ascends to the podium, slowly, for a final speech in the hemicycle. Targeted by the motions of censure of the National Rally and the New Popular Front, he knows that his fate is already sealed.
“Censorship will make everything worse”
At the microphone, Michel Barnier puts on his glasses to defend, once again, his budgetary text. But before he speaks, the “central block” offers him a standing ovation which resembles a farewell. “I am very touched by your attitude and your welcome,” begins Michel Barnier, not holding a grudge with this fragile coalition which has not always helped him. “I heard Gabriel Attal earlier expressing the wish for less noise and more action…”. The first boos rise from the left, he smiles: “It’s complicated here, eh? »
For twenty short minutes, the former Brexit negotiator unfolds the qualities of his much-maligned budget, which will ultimately prevail. “This text was not perfect […] but it was a good compromise and it was time to implement it. This is why I held my government accountable.” On several occasions, Michel Barnier speaks in the past tense, aware that it is already too late. “This motion of censure will make everything more serious and everything more difficult,” he only warns the oppositions. If he seems resigned, it is because his adversaries have already killed all suspense.
“The chaos is already here”
Around 5 p.m., Eric Coquerel criticizes a budget “of sweat and tears presented to the French”. The rebellious MP, president of the Finance Commission, evokes “the catastrophic economic figures” of the country while sighing: “chaos will not come with your fall, it is already here”. In the same tone, Boris Vallaud criticizes Matignon's negotiations with Marine Le Pen. “The Republican front (in the second round of the legislative elections) was based on a single commitment: not to cede anything to the extreme right. However, it is with the only RN that you negotiated. This betrayal alone justifies censorship,” says the boss of the PS group.
On the side of the National Rally, the reasons are different, but the goal is the same: to justify censorship, even by mixing its votes with the left. Marine Le Pen attacks “a budget without direction or vision, technocratic, which is content to slide down the slope, refusing to tackle immigration”, far from her recent speeches to amend it. “The small steps that you have timidly and belatedly attempted cannot be called concessions, they are crumbs,” she justified. To those who accuse me of a policy of the worst, I want to tell them: the worst would be not to censor.”
Three short months and then it's gone
The threats from the “central bloc” about the economic dizziness to come do nothing. Gabriel Attal can only note: “It seems that the extreme right and the extreme left have decided to give the thumbs down together as in the past in Rome when it was necessary to condemn a gladiator after the fight”. Shortly before 8:30 p.m., the ax fell. The National Assembly overthrows Michel Barnier and his ministers with 331 votes.
At the beginning of September, during the transfer of power with Gabriel Attal, the former European Commissioner mocked the “teachings” of his young predecessor, who had “only lasted eight months” at Matignon. Touted for his talents as a Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier only lasted three months.
