French opposition MPs overthrew the government yesterday, which plunged the second largest economic power of the European Union into an even deeper political crisis.
Ultra-right and left-wing MPs have joined forces to support a motion of no confidence in Prime Minister Michel Barnier and his government. A total of 331 deputies voted for the proposal, and a majority of 288 votes was needed for the government to fall.
Barnier's government is the first in France to be ousted in this way in more than 60 years, as the country struggles to rein in a huge budget deficit. It is also the government with the shortest mandate in the history of the Fifth Republic.
Leftists and the far-right chastised Barnier for deciding to use special constitutional powers to push through parliament without a vote part of an unpopular budget, which called for 60 billion euros in savings to reduce the deficit.
"We have reached a moment of truth," Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally party, said ahead of the vote, adding that Barnier would be ousted because his austerity plans for next year were "dangerous and unfair" and meant "chaos" for France.
And the deputy of the ultra-left party Unconquered France Erik Kokerel told Barnier: "You will be the first prime minister to be impeached since Georges Pompidou in 1962."
Le Pen and Cokerel argued that Barnier, who was appointed by President Emmanuel Macron in September, almost two months after the election without a clear winner, lacked legitimacy from the start.
France now risks ending the year without a stable government or budget for 2025, although the constitution allows for special measures to prevent a US-style government shutdown.
Reuters reports that the political crisis in France will further weaken the European Union, which is recovering from the fall of the German government, just weeks before US President-elect Donald Trump re-enters the White House.
Three sources told Reuters that Macron plans to name a new prime minister quickly, possibly even before the reopening ceremony of Notre Dame Cathedral on Saturday. Trump is expected to attend the event.
Any new prime minister will face the same challenges as Barnier in trying to pass legislation, including the 2025 budget, in a divided parliament. New parliamentary elections cannot be held before July.
Macron could ask Barnier and his ministers to remain in office in an interim capacity while he identifies a prime minister who can attract enough support to pass the law.
Barnier, who was applauded by his team as he spoke in parliament just before the vote, said he wanted to emphasize what an honor it was to be prime minister.
"This no-confidence motion will make everything more difficult," he warned the deputies, adding that the challenges facing France, especially its fiscal deficit, "will not disappear with the magic of one impeachment motion."
Reuters writes that the current crisis is not without risks for Marine Le Pen, who has spent years trying to convince voters that she can offer stability.
"The French will judge harshly the decision you make," Laurent Vauquier, a lawmaker from the conservative Republican party who supports Macron, told her in parliament.
Macron, who won a second term in 2022, sparked the crisis by calling early parliamentary elections in June.
His presidential term runs until mid-2027 and parliament cannot force him to resign, but the RN and the radical left are already saying he should resign as he faces the biggest crisis since the "Yellow Vest" protests of 2018-2019. year.
Since Macron called the election, France's benchmark CAC 40 stock index has fallen by nearly 10 percent, the biggest loser among the EU's leading economies. The value of the single currency, the euro, fell by almost four percent.
Political uncertainty is already affecting France's services sector, according to a monthly survey.
"The positive signals ... that were present during the summer, partly because of the Olympics, are now a thing of the past," said Hamburg Commercial Bank economist Tariq Kamal Chaudhry.
Barnier's draft budget sought to reduce the fiscal deficit, which is expected to exceed six percent of GDP this year, with €60 billion in tax increases and spending cuts. The intention was to reduce the deficit to five percent next year.
Barnier said the consequences of his removal would be catastrophic for the state's finances, but Le Pen rejected that and said allowing the budget to pass would be the worst possible policy.
Instead, she said her party would support emergency legislation that carries over tax and spending provisions from the 2024 budget to next year to provide temporary funding.
But that would mean that the austerity measures planned by Barnije would fail.
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