French lawmakers oust PM Barnier’s government in historic no-confidence vote
French PM Michel Barnier leaves after delivering a speech during the debate prior to the no-confidence votes on his administration at the National Assembly in Paris on December 4, 2024. (AFP Photo)
In a dramatic political shift, French lawmakers voted on Wednesday to oust Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s government after just three months in office, deepening the country’s ongoing political crisis.
For the first time in over 60 years, the French National Assembly approved a no-confidence motion against the incumbent government. The motion, originally proposed by the hard left, gained crucial support from the far-right, led by Marine Le Pen, highlighting the deep divisions within the French political landscape.
Barnier’s rapid removal follows a summer of snap parliamentary elections that left France with a hung parliament, where the far-right now holds the key to the government’s survival.
The motion was sparked by a standoff over next year’s austerity budget, after Barnier pushed through a controversial social security financing bill without a vote earlier this week.
With the far-right’s support, 331 of the 577 National Assembly members voted to oust the government.
Macron heads back to Paris ahead of the vote
Speaker Yael Braun-Pivet confirmed Barnier would need to submit his resignation to President Emmanuel Macron.
Macron, returning from a state visit to Saudi Arabia, now faces the difficult task of selecting a viable successor with over two years left in his term. The defeat has fueled speculation about Macron’s future, with some calling for his resignation, which he rejected as “political fiction.”
The political crisis has intensified as France braces for public-sector strikes over the proposed cost-cutting measures. Macron is also set to host an international event this weekend, marking the reopening of Notre-Dame cathedral after the 2019 fire.
The no-confidence vote is the first since 1962 and marks the shortest government tenure since the establishment of the Fifth Republic in 1958.
France’s hard left urges early elections
France’s hard left on Wednesday urged President Emmanuel Macron to resign and hold early presidential elections after lawmakers voted to oust the government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier.
“We are now calling on Macron to go,” Mathilde Panot, the head of the parliamentary faction of the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party told reporters, urging “early presidential elections” to solve a deepening political crisis.
