French National Assembly approves no-confidence motion against the Barnier government
The first government appointed by Macron after the last elections lasted barely two months and 29 days and has put France in a situation of political instability.
Acting Prime Minister Michel Barnier after the no-confidence vote.
The French left, with the support of the conservatives of the National Rally (RN), brought down the government of French Prime Minister Michel Barnier on Wednesday, amid calls for the resignation of President Emmanuel Macron in the midst of a political crisis in the European Union's second-largest economy.
By 331 votes in favor, above the absolute majority of 288, the National Assembly put an end to Barnier's less than 100 days in government, while rejecting his budgets for 2025.
Although the censure does not affect President Emmanuel Macron, whose mandate ends in 2027, it weakens him much more, all the more so when he decided in September to appoint Barnier as prime minister in the name of "stability."
Barnier provoked the no-confidence motion by invoking Article 49.3 of the French Constitution to advance his public spending law. That article allows the government to proceed with its agenda without a vote of the National Assembly, but leaves the government and its latest law in the hands of a no-confidence vote.
"Today we vote the censure of your Government, but above all we mark the end of a mandate: that of the president," estimated deputy Éric Coquerel, defending the motion of censure of the left-wing coalition New Popular Front (NFP).
Without directly calling for his resignation, RN leader Marine Le Pen called on Macron, with whom she contested the presidency in 2017 and 2022, to think about whether he can continue in office.
"It is up to his conscience to decide whether he can sacrifice public action and the fate of France to his pride. It is up to his reason to decide whether he can ignore the evidence of a massive popular repudiation," she stressed.
On Tuesday, the president, on a visit to Saudi Arabia, called an eventual resignation before 2027, when his second term ends, a "political fiction." The 46-year-old president is no longer eligible for re-election.
On the international scene, Barnier's resignation comes at a bad time when the situation in Ukraine seems increasingly more volatile. Next Saturday, the inauguration of the Notre Dame cathedral, damaged in a fire in 2019, will also be held in Paris. Barnier's government will remain in place until Macron names a successor.
Le Pen appears in a position of strength in the polls to reach the presidency, but the courts could frustrate her dream if on March 31 they decide to disqualify her for 5 years, as requested by the prosecution in a case of embezzlement of European funds.
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