French President Emmanuel Macron has vowed not to resign regardless of the outcome of Wednesday's no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Michel Barnier, making it likely that Macron's second government will collapse this year.
Speaking on the sidelines of a visit to Saudi Arabia, where France is in complete political turmoil, President Macron reaffirmed his plans to serve out the remainder of his second term, scheduled to run until April 2027.
Macron made the comments in his first comments since plans for a vote of no confidence in the prime minister were announced. said around le figaro: “I have been elected twice by the people of France. I am very proud of this and will respect this trust and serve this country to the best of my ability until the last moment.”
Macron is abroad amid a possible exit from the Paris government on Wednesday after his longtime rival Marine Le Pen and his Populist National Rally announced this week that they would take part in a no-confidence vote launched by the left-wing New Party. So I had to make this comment. The Popular Front (NFP) will overthrow the recently installed government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier.
Mr Barnier, a former Brexit negotiator, was defeated in June's EU parliamentary elections by Mr Le Pen's National Rally, following his disastrous decision to dissolve parliamentary elections in July. He was appointed Prime Minister by President Macron. This move effectively left the National Assembly divided into three parties: the left-wing NFP, the centrist faction largely loyal to Macron, who replaced Barnier, and Le Pen's National Rally.
Mr. Barnier was expected to be a solid figure to help navigate a divided country facing huge budget problems, but it was difficult to reach a budget agreement with Ms. Le Pen, whose government depended on her support. I couldn't. The National Assembly's support ultimately evaporated on Monday when Mr Barnier said he would use a loophole in Article 49(3) of the constitution to pass a measure to stop increases in social security benefits due to inflation, but Le Pen He and his allies viewed this action as punitive. President Macron's predecessors in fiscal failure.
For this reason, although the National Assembly has announced that it will support a no-confidence vote initiated by the left-wing NFP scheduled for Wednesday, the resignation of Barnier's government is almost certain, and perhaps the National Assembly has exercised its power to oust the government. It will be the first time. The combined forces of both factions easily exceeded the 289 votes needed to defeat Mr. Barnier, the first time since 1962.
If Barnier's government is overthrown, Macron will have to reappoint him or find someone else to take on the position, which is increasingly being seen as a poisoned chalice.
Under France's constitution, Mr Macron cannot call new parliamentary elections until next spring, meaning any government will face a three-way split in parliament unless he resigns as president.
Speaking from Riyadh on Tuesday night, President Macron accused the National Assembly of “intolerable cynicism” in siding with the NFP in the censure vote. Just a few months ago, Mr. Macron made a similar move after striking a last-minute electoral deal with the left-wing bloc, after the National Rally won parliamentary elections and appeared on track to take control of parliament, and perhaps the government itself. faced criticism.
According to sauce talk to le figaro Mr Barnier, who was present in Mr Barnier's strategy room on Monday, reportedly said he did not believe Ms Le Pen would “dare” to join a no-confidence motion. This turned out to be a huge miscalculation for the 73-year-old veteran politician.
On Monday, Le Pen said: “Our red lines have been communicated to the government for weeks. These are what I have already said in response to the Prime Minister's policy speech. They have been communicating what is unacceptable to us. I knew that very well.”
