France’s political crisis deepens as lawmakers topple the government

French Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s three-month-old minority government was overthrown on Wednesday in a no-confidence vote backed by left-wing and far-right opposition lawmakers.

Marine Le Pen’s far-right nationalists and the left-wing alliance New Popular Front (NFP) voted together to oust the government. A total of 331 of the 577 lawmakers in the National Assembly – France’s lower house – have withdrawn their support for Barnier.

Barnier is now obliged to submit his resignation and that of the government to President Emmanuel Macron.

The collapse, precipitated by a fight over Barnier’s austerity budget, plunges one of Europe’s most powerful players into deeper political turmoil amid major economic challenges.

According to the French constitution, new parliamentary elections cannot be held until one year after the last vote in July.

None of the political blocs have an absolute majority in parliament, meaning it is unlikely that anything stronger than a minority government will be able to be formed.

The last time a French government was deposed through a vote of no confidence was in 1962.

The opposition points the finger at Macron

After the vote, the left-wing alliance increased its calls for Macron to resign and call early presidential elections, currently scheduled for 2027.

“To get out of the impasse in which the president has led the country, we have only one solution: we now call on Emmanuel Macron to leave,” said Mathilde Panot, parliamentary leader of the France Unbowed party, which is part of the NFP .

“We are not the chaos, Emmanuel Macron has been for the past seven years,” she said, adding that the president’s policies have also been defeated by the vote of no confidence.

The president has repeatedly stated that he wants to remain head of state until the end of his term.

Le Pen also blamed Macron for the fall of the government, saying on French television channel TF1 that the president is “largely responsible for the current situation.”

But Le Pen said she would not call for Macron’s resignation, saying that as pressure mounts he would have to decide for himself whether to call early presidential elections.

Barnier’s fragile government

Barnier, a veteran conservative French politician known for leading the European Union’s talks with Britain on the country’s exit from the bloc, was chosen as prime minister by Macron in September.

Barnier took the job after weeks of uncertainty following Macron’s decision to hold early parliamentary elections in June and July in a bid to shore up his support.

His defeat on Wednesday was expected and came after the NFP and Le Pen’s National Rally both filed motions of no confidence against him.

The first motion that lawmakers voted on – and the one that toppled the government – ​​was from the NFP. It was passed with the support of Le Pen’s party.

The opposition was angered by Barnier’s decision on Monday to use special powers to push through part of his 2025 budget – which includes tax increases and cuts to government spending – without parliamentary approval.

France, the euro zone’s second-largest economy, is facing a massive budget deficit that is ravaging French stocks and bonds and driving up borrowing costs.

Following the fall of the German government last month, two of Europe’s most important players could now face a political standstill due to domestic crises.