A majority of members of the French National Assembly voted on Wednesday (4 December) shortly after 20:00 to vote no confidence in the government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier, sparking the most significant political crisis of the Fifth Republic. President Emmanuel Macron accepted his resignation today and also asked him to lead the cabinet until a new prime minister is appointed.
After an electrifying day in the National Assembly and weeks of uncertainty, the vote brought down Barnier's government after just 90 days in office. Last-minute calls for "accountability" from President Emmanuel Macron and Barnier himself failed to convince enough MPs.
331 of the 577 members of the National Assembly voted in favour of the motion of no confidence submitted by the left-wing forces associated with the New Popular Front (NPF). Their motion was supported by far-right deputies from the National Assembly (RN) and their allies.
Barnier must now submit his resignation to Macron. His government can remain in place as a caretaker government until Macron appoints a new prime minister.
https://twitter.com/gouvernementFR/status/1864371288610938910
"Your failure was inevitable and it was devastating. This motion of no confidence will bring you crashing down," he told Barnier before the vote Eric Coquerel, Member of the La France Insoumise (LFI). He claimed that "Most [of the French people] It supports neither your government nor the president who appointed you to this post."
"In the end, you tried to compromise, but with the far right - the National Assembly, which you favored against the Republican barrier that most [voters] expressed during [July] parliamentary elections," Coquerel further stated.
Since his appointment on 5 September, Barnier, known for his diplomatic skills, has sought to open a dialogue with the far-right party, whose neutrality has been crucial to his tenure as head of government.
However, the concessions Barnier gave the RN on migration and the 2025 budget proposal proved insufficient to convince the RN leader in the Assembly Marine Le Pento spare him.
"We wanted to believe that you are aware of the suffering of the country and are able to understand the new political balance," Le Pen explained. "But you only gave one answer: taxes, taxes and more taxes."
"The time of great change is approaching, the great change that we so fervently desire and that will bring liberation to all French people," She added.
In the history of the Fifth Republic, the motion of censure has succeeded only once: on 4 October 1962, leading to the resignation of Georges Pompidou's government. However, this event was immediately followed by the dissolution of the National Assembly. Now Macron must wait until July 2025 to call new parliamentary elections.
Michel Barnier on Monday (2 December) resorted to Article 49(3) of the Constitution to approve the 2025 Social Security Financing Bill (PLFSS) without a vote, paving the way for two motions of no confidence.
Euractiv/ gnews - RoZ
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