PARIS: For the first time in over sixty years, French lawmakers on Wednesday voted to oust the government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier after just three months in office, a historic move that hurled the country further into political uncertainty.<\/p>\n
The National Assembly lower house approved a no-confidence motion that had been proposed by the hard left but which crucially was backed by the far right<\/span>\u00a0headed by Marine Le Pen.<\/span><\/p>\n Barnier’s rapid ejection from office comes after snap parliamentary elections this summer which resulted in a hung parliament with no party having an overall majority and the far-right holding the key to the government’s survival.<\/span><\/p>\n President Emmanuel Macron now has the difficult task of picking a viable successor with over two years of his presidential term left.<\/span><\/p>\n The National Assembly debated a motion brought by the hard left in a standoff over next year’s austerity budget after the prime minister on Monday forced through a social security financing bill without a vote.<\/span><\/p>\n With the support of the far-right, a majority of 331 MPs in the 577-member chamber voted to oust the government.<\/span><\/p>\n Macron flew back into Paris just ahead of the vote after wrapping up his three-day state visit to Saudi Arabia, an apparent world away from the domestic crisis.<\/span><\/p>\n He strolled earlier Wednesday through the desert sands of the Al-Ula oasis, an iconic tourist project of the kingdom, <\/span>marvelling<\/span> at ancient landmarks. After landing, he headed direct to the Elysee Palace.<\/span><\/p>\n “We are now calling on Macron to go,” Mathilde Panot, the head of the parliamentary faction of the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party told reporters, urging “early presidential elections” to solve the deepening political crisis.<\/span><\/p>\n But taking care not to crow over the fall of the government, Le Pen said in a television interview that her party — once a new premier is appointed — “would let them work” and help create a “budget that is acceptable for everyone”.<\/span><\/p>\n Laurent Wauquiez, the head of right-wing deputies in parliament, said the far-right and hard-left bore the responsibility for a no-confidence vote that would “plunge the country into instability”.<\/span><\/p>\n Macron on Tuesday had rejected calls to resign, saying such a scenario amounted to “political fiction”.<\/span><\/p>\n With markets nervous and France bracing for public-sector strikes against the threat of cutbacks, action that will shut schools and hit air and rail traffic, there is a growing sense of crisis.<\/span><\/p>\n The unions have called for civil servants, including teachers and air traffic controllers, to strike on Thursday over separate cost-cutting measures proposed by their respective ministries this autumn.<\/span><\/p>\n Meanwhile, Macron is due to host a major international event on <\/span>Saturday<\/span>, with the reopening of the <\/span>Notre-Dame<\/span> cathedral<\/span> after the 2019 fire, with guests including Donald Trump on his first foreign trip since he was elected to be the next US president.<\/span><\/p>\n “His failure,” was left-wing daily Liberation’s front-page headline, with a picture of Macron, whose term runs until 2027.<\/span><\/p>\n In an editorial, Le Monde said Le Pen’s move risked upsetting her <\/span>own<\/span> supporters, such as retirees and business leaders, by toppling the government.<\/span><\/p>\n “In the space of a few minutes, she shattered the strategy of <\/span>normalisation<\/span> she had consistently pursued,” the daily said.<\/span><\/p>\n Some observers have suggested that Le Pen, 56, is seeking to bring down Macron before his term ends by ousting Barnier.<\/span><\/p>\n Le Pen is embroiled in a high-profile embezzlement trial. If found guilty in March, she could be blocked from participating in France’s next presidential election.<\/span><\/p>\n But if Macron stepped down soon, an election would have to be called within a month, potentially ahead of the verdict in her trial.<\/span><\/p>\n Candidates for the post of premier are few, but loyalist Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu and Macron’s centrist ally Francois Bayrou are possible contenders.<\/span><\/p>\n On the left, Macron could turn to former Socialist premier and interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve, a contender in September.<\/span><\/p>\n Macron is minded to appoint the new premier rapidly, several sources told AFP.<\/span><\/p>\n It was the first successful no-confidence vote since <\/span>a defeat<\/span> for<\/span> Georges Pompidou’s government in <\/span>1962,<\/span> when Charles de Gaulle was president.<\/span><\/p>\n The lifespan of Barnier’s government is also the shortest of any administration since the Fifth Republic began in 1958.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" PARIS: For the first time in over sixty years, French lawmakers on Wednesday voted to oust the government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier after just three months in office, a historic move that hurled the country further into political uncertainty. The National Assembly lower house approved a no-confidence motion that had been proposed by the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":58237,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[24534,24533],"class_list":["post-58235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","tag-france-no-confidence-vote","tag-french-government"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58235"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58235\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58239,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58235\/revisions\/58239"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}‘Calling on Macron to go’<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n
‘His failure’<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n
‘Shattered strategy’<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n