French PM Barnier ousted in no-confidence vote

Paris: The deputies of the French National Assembly voted on Wednesday evening in favour of a no-confidence vote, forcing French Prime Minister Michel Barnier to resign and his government to collapse.

A total of 331 deputies, mostly from left-wing parties alliance New Popular Front (NFP) and far-right party National Rally (RN), have voted in favour, largely over the 289 votes requested for the no-confidence vote to go through, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to the French Constitution, Barnier now needs to hand in his resignation to French President Emmanuel Macron. The resignation will be automatically considered as accepted.

Speaking to the French lawmakers before the vote, Barnier defended his decision to force passage of the 2025 social security budget.

“I made this decision after having demonstrated the spirit of listening, respect, and dialogue, which led the government to improve its text every day on several important points,” he said.

Pointing out that France is plunged into an enormous deficit, Barnier said: “This reality remains there, it will not disappear by the magic of a no-confidence vote.”

“This reality will remind any government, whatever it may be,” he added.

Following the announcement of the success of the no-confidence vote, former far-right party leader Marine Le Pen said that she wouldn’t consider the vote a “victory”.

“The choice we made is to protect the French,” Le Pen told French television TF1, adding that there was “no other solution than this solution”.

Macron announced on June 9, 2024, the dissolution of the National Assembly, following the defeat of his party in the 2024 European Parliament elections.

He nominated Barnier as Prime Minister, a move that was criticised by the left-wing parties, who expected an NFP candidate in line with the legislative election results.

With Barnier’s government collapsed, France now faces again the challenge of having an approved budget for 2025 within less than one month.

French news channel BFMTV reported that the French President would nominate a new Prime Minister “within the following 24 hours,” since he wouldn’t want to face cameras in front of the whole world without a government when he inaugurates the restored Notre Dame de Paris cathedral.

As Macron already dissolved the lower house in June, he can no longer play the same card until June 2025. The French National Assembly remains without an absolute majority.

France is going through a critical period. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has projected that France’s economic growth is set to slow from 1.1 per cent in 2024 to 0.9 per cent in 2025.

In its latest economic outlook, the OECD warned that if the budget (for 2025) is not adopted, political uncertainty would bear down on the recovery.

“Additionally, weaker-than-expected inflation and economic growth could reduce tax revenues, threatening the government’s ability to meet its 5 per cent deficit target,” it added.

According to the estimation of the OECD, France’s fiscal deficit is anticipated to rise to 6.1 per cent of its GDP in 2024, up from 5.5 per cent in 2023.

Barnier has become the first French Prime Minister forced to step down by a no-confidence vote since 1962.

Returning from an official visit to Saudi Arabia, Macron is expected to address the nation on Thursday evening.

IANS