French lawmakers voted on Wednesday to oust Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s government after just three months in office, a historic move that pushed the country further into political chaos.
For the first time in more than sixty years, the lower house of the National Assembly toppled the incumbent government by approving a motion of no-confidence, which was proposed by the hard left but which was significantly supported by the far right led by Marine Le Pen .
Barnier was swiftly removed from office after snap parliamentary elections this summer resulted in a hung parliament, in which no party had an overall majority and the far-right held the key to the government’s survival.
President Emmanuel Macron now has the incredible option of choosing a viable successor, with more than two years left in his presidential term.
The Prime Minister passed the social security financing bill without a vote on Monday after the National Assembly debated a motion brought by the hard-left amid a standoff over next year’s austerity budget.
With the support of the far right, a majority of 331 MPs in the 577-member House voted to remove the government.
Speaker Yael Braun-Pivat confirmed that Barnier must now “submit his resignation” to Macron and declared the session closed.
Macron flew back to Paris just before the vote after completing a three-day state visit to Saudi Arabia, a world away from the domestic crisis.
He walked on the desert sands of Al-Ula Oasis, an iconic tourism project of the kingdom, on Wednesday morning and visited the ancient sites. After landing, he headed straight towards the Elysee Palace.
On Tuesday, Macron accused Le Pen’s far-right of “intolerable skepticism” in supporting the resolution.
No new elections can be called within a year of last summer’s vote, limiting Macron’s options.
Laurent Vauquiz, head of right-wing representatives in parliament, said the far-right and hard-left took responsibility for a no-confidence vote that would “plunge the country into instability”.
– ‘His failure’ –
Some have suggested that Macron himself should resign to break the impasse.
But Macron rejected those calls, saying such a scenario amounted to a “political fantasy.”
“Clearly it is not right to say these things,” Macron said during a visit to Saudi Arabia.
Eric Coquerel, a hard-left lawmaker, said the motion against Barnier sounds like “the death knell of Emmanuel Macron’s mandate.”
With markets jittery and France preparing for a strike amid the threat of public sector cuts that could close schools and disrupt air and rail traffic, a sense of crisis is growing.
Unions have called on civil servants including teachers and air traffic controllers to strike on Thursday over separate cost-cutting measures proposed by their respective ministries this autumn.
Meanwhile, Macron is scheduled to host a major international event on Saturday with the reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral after the 2019 fire, with guests including Donald Trump on his first trip abroad since being elected as the next US president. Are on.
“His failure,” was the front-page headline of the leftist daily Liberation, which featured a photo of Macron, whose term in office runs until 2027.
– ‘Broken Strategy’ –
But in an editorial, Le Monde said Le Pen’s move risked upsetting her own supporters, such as retirees and business leaders, by bringing down the government.
“In the space of a few minutes, she dismantled the normalization strategy she had consistently adopted,” the daily said.
Some observers have suggested that Le Pen, 56, wants to bring down Macron by ousting Barnier before his term ends.
Le Pen is embroiled in a high-profile embezzlement trial. If found guilty in March, she could be barred from running in France’s next presidential election.
But if Macron steps down too soon, elections would have to be held within a month, possibly before his trial is decided.
There are very few candidates for prime minister, but loyal Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu and Macron’s centrist ally Francois Bayrou are possible contenders.
On the left, Macron could turn to former Socialist prime minister and interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve, who was a contender in September.
Multiple sources told AFP that Macron was planning to appoint a new prime minister soon.
This was the first successful no-confidence vote since the defeat of the government of Georges Pompidou in 1962, when Charles de Gaulle was president.
Barnier’s government has the shortest lifespan of any administration since the beginning of the Fifth Republic in 1958.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
