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By Elizabeth Pineau and Dominique Vidalon
Paris: The French government is still certain to collapse this weekend after the far-right and left-wing parties said They will vote for a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Michel Barnier.
Their move comes after Barnier said he would try to get Social Security bills through parliament without a vote, as the final concessions were not enough to win the support of the far-right bill. National (RN).
Leader RN Marine Le Pen has said her party will organize its own no-confidence motion but will also vote for similar bills by other parties.
“France has had enough,” she said. “Maybe they thought with Michel Barnier things would get better, but they got worse.”
“In the face of this complete rejection of democracy, we will punish the government … We are living in political turmoil because of the government of Michel Barnier and President Emmanuel Macron,” said Mathilde Panot of the French leftist Unbowed.
If all RN lawmakers vote left to overthrow Barnier, the government will not survive.
Opposition parties now have 24 hours to launch a no-confidence motion. Voting can take place Wednesday morning. No French government has been forced out by such elections since 1962.
Barnier's struggle for a 2025 budget through a deeply divided parliament threatens to plunge France into its second political crisis in six months, highlighting the instability that has plagued countries across the EU.
He urged lawmakers not to support a vote of no confidence.
“We are in the moment of reality,” Barnier told Congress as he outlined the fate of his government. “France will not forgive us for putting individual interests in the future of the country.”
Since its constitution in September, the Barnier minority government has relied on RN support for its survival. The budget bill, which seeks to offset France's growing public deficit through a ពាន់ 60 billion ($ 63 billion) tax increase, could be closely linked.
