French Parliament voted to remove Prime Minister Michel Barnier and his cabinet on Dec. 4, collapsing the government as a whole. Parliament voted 331 to 577 in a no-confidence vote after Barnier attempted to force a severe budget that would try to fix France’s large economic deficit.
Barnier will have served the shortest prime ministerial term in modern French history once he formally resigns, and he will be the first to be removed by parliament since 1962. Many lawmakers are also calling for the resignation of President Emmanuel Macron, whose term is supposed to end in 2027.
Before the vote, far-right leader Marine Le Pen said Macron would “sacrifice the fate of France because of his vanity” if he failed to step aside.
“Emmanuel Macron has attacked the foundation walls of the nation for the past seven years,” Le Pen said, with a round of applause from her supporters as they tried to overpower the boos from Barnier’s allies. “He alone can pull the country out of the rut it’s in (with his resignation).”
Wednesday’s vote was a defeat for “all of Emmanuel Macron’s policies,” said Mathilde Panot of the hard-left France Unbowed party. “To break the deadlock, we ask for Emmanuel Macron to go.”
Barnier accused Parliament of acting irresponsibly by bringing down his government. “I cannot accept the idea that institutional destabilization could be the objective that brings together a majority of lawmakers at a moment when our country faces a deep moral, economic, financial and civic crisis,” he said before the vote.
The political turmoil could not have come at a worse moment for Europe, which urgently requires strong leadership to tackle a range of challenges, including the return of Donald Trump, the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the threat of a trade war with China. Germany, the other key driver of the continent, is poorly positioned to step up as it grapples with its own political chaos and a sluggish economy.
