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Michel Barnier’s government is the first to be ousted in over 60 years, making him the shortest-serving PM in French history.
French Prime Minister Michel Barnier reacts after the result of the vote on the first motion of no-confidence against the government. (AFP)
French lawmakers on Wednesday voted to oust the Prime Minister Michel Barnier-led government after just three months in office, plunging the office into a political crisis. This is the first time in over 60 years that the National Assembly approved a no-confidence motion against the incumbent government.
Opposition parties had tabled the motion after Barnier controversially used special powers to force through his budget without a vote. The Barnier government was proposed by the hard left after the snap elections announced by President Emmanuel Macron, but was backed by Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN), who had the power to topple the government.
The turmoil follows a snap election called by Macron that aimed, without success, to halt the march of the far right, and left no party or faction in parliament with a majority. Out of options, Macron chose Barnier to lead the government. With the government toppled so soon, Macron is likely to be forced to choose another viable successor.
Lawmakers in the French Parliament were required to either vote yes or abstain from Wednesday’s vote, with 288 votes needed for the motion to pass. A total of 331 voted in support of the motion, BBC reported. Barnier will carry out his duties as caretaker PM until Macron chooses a successor.
Why Was Barnier Ousted So Soon?
Both the Left and the far-right tabled no-confidence motions against Barnier after he pushed through a social security financing bill by invoking a presidential decree on Monday, after failing to win enough support for the measures. The National Rally deemed the budget, which included £49 billion in deficit reduction, as “unacceptable”.
This made Barnier the shortest-serving PM in French history. Ahead of the vote, Barnier told the National Assembly that voting him out would not solve the country’s financial problems. ” am not afraid, don’t worry, I am not afraid, I’ve rarely been afraid in my political commitment. What’s at stake is our collective ability to make strides toward one another, to get over tensions and divisions that hurt our country so much, to have as sole compass the general interest,” he said.
“I consider it an honour to have been for three months – and to still be – the prime minister of the French people, of all French people. And at a moment when this mission ends, maybe soon, let me tell you that it will remain for me an honour to have served with dignity France and the French,” he further said.
Barnier will submit the resignation of his government to President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday following the no-confidence vote. No French government had lost a confidence vote since Georges Pompidou’s in 1962.
Calls For Macron’s Resignation
With the government in peril, some lawmakers have suggested President Macron, who wrapped up a state visit to Saudi Arabia and flew in to Paris ahead of the vote, should resign to break the political impasse. “We are now calling on Macron to go,” said Mathilde Panot, the head of the parliamentary faction of the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party.
Macron on Tuesday had rejected calls to resign, saying such a scenario amounted to “political fiction”. “I was elected twice by the French people. I am extremely proud of this and I will honour this trust with all the energy that is mine until the last second to be useful to the country,” added Macron, who is due to serve until 2027.
However, Macron’s move to call for snap elections has risked France ending the year without a stable government or a 2025 budget, weeks before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office. It will further weaken a European Union already reeling from the implosion of Germany’s coalition government and risk French support for Ukraine.
(with inputs from agencies)
