The French government has fallen after a historic no-confidence vote on Wednesday night, marking the shortest-lived administration in France’s Fifth Republic and throwing President Emmanuel Macron’s leadership into its deepest crisis.
A total of 331 lawmakers backed the motion brought by left-wing parties and supported by Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party, forcing Prime Minister Michel Barnier to resign after just three months in office.
Barnier, the EU’s former Brexit negotiator who had warned that France would be “plunged into the unknown”, will tender his resignation on Thursday morning.
President Macron is scheduled to address the nation in a televised broadcast on Thursday evening.
The vote marks France’s first successful no-confidence motion since 1962, when Georges Pompidou’s government fell during Charles de Gaulle’s presidency.
The political upheaval comes at a critical time as France grapples with growing public deficits and uncertainty over the 2025 budget.
Macron, whose second term runs until spring 2027, has ruled out resigning despite calls from opposition parties.
With no possibility of new parliamentary elections before July 2025, his options appear limited in a deeply divided National Assembly.
The crisis was triggered by Barnier’s use of Article 49.3 of the constitution to force through a social security financing bill on Monday, after weeks of deadlock over his proposed €60bn package of tax increases and spending cuts.
His minority coalition had relied on tacit support from Le Pen’s party, which ultimately withdrew its backing, claiming the budget would harm the country.
If parliament fails to pass a budget by December 20, the government may need to propose emergency legislation to extend current spending limits and tax provisions from 2024 until a new administration can present a fresh 2025 budget bill.
Socialist party leader Olivier Faure has called for a left-wing prime minister to be appointed, while urging Macron to address the mounting uncertainty facing French citizens ahead of the Christmas period.
(with information from The Guardian)
