French govt felled in no-confidence vote, deepening political crisis

PARIS: French opposition lawmakers brought the government down on Wednesday, throwing the European Union’s second-biggest economic power deeper into a political crisis that threatens its capacity to legislate and rein in a massive budget deficit.

Far-right and left-wing lawmakers joined forces to back a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Michel Barnier and his government, with a majority 331 votes in support of the motion.

Barnier was expected to tender his resignation and that of his government to President Emmanuel Macron shortly.

The hard left and far right punished Barnier for opting to use special constitutional powers to adopt part of an unpopular budget without a final vote in parliament, where it lacked majority support. The draft budget had sought 60 billion euros ($63.07 billion) in savings in a drive to shrink a gaping deficit.

“This (deficit) reality will not disappear by the magic of a motion of censure,” Barnier told lawmakers ahead of the vote, adding the budget deficit would come back to haunt whichever government comes next.

No French government had lost a confidence vote since Georges Pompidou’s in 1962. Macron ushered in the crisis by calling a snap election in June that delivered a polarised parliament.

With its president diminished, France now risks ending the year without a stable government or a 2025 budget, although the constitution allows special measures that would avert a U.S.-style government shutdown.

France’s political turmoil will further weaken a European Union already reeling from the implosion of Germany’s coalition government, and weeks before US President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House.

“We have arrived at the moment of truth,” far-right National Rally leader Marine Le Pen said, adding that Barnier’s austerity budget plans had been dangerous and unfair and would have meant chaos for France.

The hard left France Unbowed (LFI) party demanded Macron’s resignation.

“With the no-confidence motion, all of the politics of Emmanuel Macron have been defeated and we demand that he goes,” said LFI member Mathilde Panot.

France now faces a period of deep political uncertainty that is already unnerving investors in French sovereign bonds and stocks. Earlier this week, France’s borrowing costs briefly exceeded those of Greece, generally considered far more risky.Macron must now make a choice.

Three sources told Reuters that Macron aimed to install a new prime minister swiftly, with one saying he wanted to name a premier before a ceremony to reopen the Notre-Dame Cathedral on Saturday, which Trump is due to attend.Any new prime minister would face the same challenges as Barnier in getting bills, including the 2025 budget, adopted by a divided parliament. There can be no new parliamentary election before July.