PARIS, Dec 5 : The French government has collapsed after Prime Minister Michel Barnier was ousted in a no-confidence vote on Thursday, media reports said.
MPs overwhelmingly supported a motion against him, three months after he was appointed by President Emmanuel Macron, the BBC reported.
MPs were required to either vote yes or abstain from Wednesday’s vote, with 288 votes needed for the motion to pass. A total of 331 voted in support of the motion.
Opposition parties filed a motion following the former Brexit negotiator’s controversial use of special powers to pass his budget without a vote.
It marks the first time the French government has collapsed in a no-confidence vote since 1962, the report said.
France’s political instability is expected to worsen following snap elections in summer, where no single group held a majority in parliament.
According to media reports, Macron had said he would not resign whatever the outcome of Wednesday’s vote. He is expected to name a new prime minister swiftly to avoid the embarrassment of a non-existent government – not least because US President-elect Donald Trump is due in Paris this weekend for the reopening of the Notre-Dame cathedral.
The current Assembly deadlock, where no group can hope for a working majority, is set to continue due to the impossibility of new parliamentary elections until July.
PM Barnier is now obliged to present the resignation of his government, and the budget that triggered his downfall is defunct.
However, he is likely to stay on as caretaker prime minister while Macron chooses a successor.
According to media reports, both the left and far right had tabled motions of no confidence after Barnier pushed through reforms to social security by invoking presidential decree on Monday, after failing to win enough support for the measures.
The New Popular Front (NFP), the left-wing alliance that won the most seats in the parliamentary elections, has previously criticised Macron’s appointment of centrist Barnier as prime minister over its own candidate.
Marine Le Pen, the RN leader, said the budget was “toxic for the French.”
Ahead of the vote, Barnier told the National Assembly that voting him out of office would not solve the country’s financial problems.
“We have reached a moment of truth, of responsibility,” he said, adding that “we need to look at the realities of our debt. It is not a pleasure that I propose difficult measures.”
In an interview with French broadcaster TF1 on Wednesday, Le Pen said there was “no other solution” than to remove Barnier.
Asked about the French president’s prospects, she replied, “I am not asking for the resignation of Emmanuel Macron.”
However, Le Pen added that “if we do not respect the voice of voters and show respect for political forces and respect for elections,” then pressure on the president will “obviously be stronger and stronger.”
Macron, who returned to France after a Saudi Arabia state visit, is set to deliver a televised speech to the nation on Thursday evening.
The president’s fate is not directly influenced by the vote result, as France votes for its president separately from its government, the report said.
(UNI)
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