Paris [France], December 5: The French National Assembly on December 4 discussed a no-confidence motion submitted by the left due to a conflict over next year's austerity budget bill, according to AFP. Earlier this week, Prime Minister Michel Barnier passed a social security finance bill without a vote, prompting protests from other parties.
With significant support from the far-right, 331 out of 577 MPs voted no confidence in the government, triggering the removal of the prime minister and the entire cabinet.
Mr Barnier only took office in September after snap parliamentary elections in June left no party with a majority, while the far-right held enough votes to decide the survival of the government.
President Emmanuel Macron will now have to choose someone to run the government for the remaining two years of his term. The leader will address the nation in the early morning of December 6, Vietnam time. Before that, Mr. Macron will receive the resignation of Prime Minister Barnier.
Any new prime minister would face the same challenges as Mr Barnier in passing the bill, observers say, as the ruling party does not have a majority in parliament. By law, France cannot hold new parliamentary elections until after July 2025.
According to Reuters, Mr. Macron could ask Mr. Barnier and his ministers to stay in their posts temporarily while they find a successor who can attract enough support from the parties to pass laws. The caretaker government could also propose an emergency bill to implement the 2024 budget's revenue and expenditure resolutions into 2025, or use special powers to pass the 2025 budget by decree. However, legal experts say this is a gray area and poses great political risks.
Mathilde Panot, parliamentary leader of the left-wing France Undaunted (LFI) party, called on President Macron to resign and call early presidential elections to resolve the deep political crisis. Macron had previously dismissed the call for his resignation as "political fiction".
This is the first time the French parliament has voted to oust a government since 1962, when the government of Prime Minister Georges Pompidou was ousted. Mr Barnier is the shortest-serving prime minister since the start of the Fifth Republic in 1958.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
