- In France, the government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier was brought down by a vote of no confidence.
- MPs from the right and left camps voted against Barnier in parliament.
- Michel Barnier’s minority government in France had little chance of surviving the day in office.
- Marine Le Pen’s right-wing nationalists and the left-wing camp voted together against the government in the National Assembly and thus achieved the necessary majority.
A total of 331 of the 577 MPs withdrew their confidence in the cabinet. Barnier must now submit his resignation and the resignation of the government to President Emmanuel Macron. The vote of no confidence does not affect the office of head of state. However, Macron announced a speech to the nation on Thursday.
The chances of Michel Barnier remaining as head of government in France were practically zero.
REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier
The government has no sense of what is happening in France. “This government is dangerous for my country,” said the head of the Rassemblement National, Jordan Bardella, to the radio station France Inter in advance. Both the left-wing camp of communists, greens, socialists and leftists, as well as Marine Le Pen’s right-wing nationalists, who had initially tolerated the minority government, submitted a motion of no confidence. Together, the opposition parties achieved the necessary absolute majority of 289 votes.
The fall of the government plunges France into a deep political crisis. A new parliamentary election will not be possible again until next summer. The balance of power therefore remains a stalemate. Neither the left-wing camp that won the parliamentary elections in the summer, nor Macron’s center forces, nor the right-wing nationalists around Marine Le Pen and their allies have their own majority. The government search is likely to be difficult again. It seems unlikely that there will be enough for more than a minority government in the end.
Government fails in the budget debate
After Germany, the second pillar of the important German-French engine in Europe is also in danger of slipping into a temporary political standstill and, above all, having to worry about its domestic political problems. As in Germany with the break of the traffic light government, in France it is also about the draft budget for next year.
Left calls on Macron to resign after government fall
Open the box
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France’s left is now calling for President Emmanuel Macron to resign. “In order to get out of the impasse into which the president has led the country, we only have one solution: we are now calling on Emmanuel Macron to leave,” said the parliamentary group leader of the left-wing party La France Insoumise (LFI), Mathilde Panot.
Panot defended himself against the accusation of plunging France into the unknown by overthrowing the government: “We are not the chaos, it has been Emmanuel Macron for seven years.” With the vote of no confidence, his politics were defeated.
LFI founder Jean-Luc Mélenchon wrote on X: “Even with a Barnier every three months, Macron won’t last three years.” Even before the vote, the left had put pressure on Macron. They want to persuade the head of state to hold an early presidential election. After two terms in office, Macron cannot run again in the upcoming election.
If parliament has not passed a budget by December 20th, the government can pass it by decree. Whether a transitional government is allowed to use these constitutional rights is controversial. Therefore, an alternative could be to only propose a budget for the beginning of the year via emergency legislation. This would have to be based on the 2024 expenses.
Who will come and go from the Élysée Palace – the seat of France’s government – will probably be decided in the coming days.
Keystone/FRANCOIS MORI
According to EU guidelines, the government actually has to reduce its high deficit, which is hardly possible without savings. The new government would then have to try to get an ordinary budget through parliament. But because this is so fragmented, this is likely to be very difficult. The next vote of no confidence would then be inevitable.
New elections may only take place again from July – one year after the previous vote. Even the fall of the government would not change the complicated balance of power. That’s why the opposition is demanding that Macron resign to break the political deadlock. But the president has already ruled this out. His term runs until 2027
