France, Barnier resigns: Macron seeks solutions

The resigning premier leaves after just three months. The motion passes with the support of the extreme right and left. Macron will address the nation

French Prime Minister Michel Barnier officially submitted his resignation to President Emmanuel Macron today, 5 December, after his government was challenged by the National Assembly. The motion, passed with 331 votes in favour out of 577 members, marks the end of Barnier’s mandate after only three months and opens a phase of political uncertainty for the country.

Barnier, visibly emotional, called his service to France an ‘honour’. ‘This no-confidence motion will make things more serious and more difficult. Of this I am certain,’ he said in his last speech before the vote.

The no-confidence motion, tabled by the far left, found an unexpected ally in Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National (RN), whose support was crucial. ‘We have chosen to protect the French from a toxic budget,’ Le Pen told TF1 television, accusing Macron of being “largely responsible for the current situation”.

At the heart of the crisis is the stalemate over next year’s budget: an austerity text that Barnier had tried to push through by forcing the approval of social security funding without a parliamentary vote. This decision provoked the opposition’s anger and strengthened the cross-party consensus against the government.

Macron, who has more than two years left in his presidential term, will not be able to dissolve the National Assembly and call early elections before July 2024. He will therefore have to find a successor capable of leading a fragile government and working with a fragmented parliament.

The Elysée announced that the president will address the nation in the evening to outline the next steps. Meanwhile, the opposition is pressing him, demanding that he take responsibility for the crisis and even considering resigning.

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