French government falls as MPs oust Barnier
France’s government fell on Wednesday night after MPs voted to oust prime minister Michel Barnier’s administration, plunging the country into fresh political turmoil.
The 73-year-old former EU chief Brexit negotiator’s removal came after just three months in office, and presents Emmanuel Macron with a power vacuum with more than two years of his presidential term left.
MPs from Marine Le Pen’s populist National Rally party backed a no-confidence motion tabled by a Left-wing alliance in a standoff over next year’s austerity budget.
“The choice we have made is to protect the French,” said Ms Le Pen after sharply criticising Mr Barnier’s budget plans for next year as “dangerous and unfair”.
In all, 331 MPs out of 577 backed the vote, which marked the first time a French government has fallen since 1962.
It leaves questions over whether Mr Macron can remain in power, and political uncertainty across Europe as Germany’s government also unravels.
Mr Barnier is expected to tender his resignation to Mr Macron on Thursday at 9am, which is a constitutional obligation following a vote of no confidence.
He becomes the shortest-lived prime minister in the Fifth Republic, designed to avoid parliamentary instability and boost the powers of the president.
But in his last address to parliament, Mr Barnier, who was warmly applauded by his camp, warned the tough economic choices that saw him draw up a budget with €40 billion in savings and €20 billion in tax rises “won’t disappear by the magic of a no-confidence vote”.
“This reality will come back to haunt any government whoever it is,” he said.
Any new prime minister appointed by Mr Macron will face the same challenges as Mr Barnier in getting bills, including the 2025 budget, adopted by a divided parliament.
There can be no new parliamentary election before July, a year since Mr Macron held snap elections with no clear winner to control parliament.
Many sources close to the head of state said he needed to appoint his sixth PM in seven years by this weekend at the latest, because of the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral.
