French Prime Minister Michel Barnier faces a no-confidence vote as soon as tomorrow after he invoked a constitutional provision yesterday to push through a contentious budget without a final parliamentary vote.
The former Brexit negotiator's move upset lawmakers in France's hung parliament, where no party holds an absolute majority after President Emmanuel Macron called snap elections in June. Opposing parties, including a left-wing alliance and Marine Le Pen's conservative populist National Rally, filed motions yesterday for no-confidence votes, potentially jeopardizing the center-right Barnier and his cabinet. If Barnier is ousted, his government will be the first to fall to a no-confidence vote since 1962 and the most short-lived since its current system, the Fifth Republic, began in 1958.
The 2025 budget seeks to shrink France's deficit and includes $42B in spending cuts and $21B in tax increases; it has faced widespread criticism from lawmakers and the public. Amid the impasse, France's financial markets have reeled while the country's borrowing costs have increased to the same level as debt-ridden Greece.
Commenti