The far-left party Unyielding France (LFI) has called on President Emmanuel Macron to resign and call early presidential elections after expressing no confidence in Michel Barnier’s government on Wednesday. According to far-right leader Marine Le Pen, Macron must make the decision himself, reports TASR according to AFP and Reuters.
“Now we call on Macron to leave,” Mathilde Panotová, chairwoman of the LFI parliamentary club, told reporters. According to her, this could solve the deepening political crisis in the country.
Le Pen from the far-right National Association (RN) emphasized that she will not call on Macron to resign. However, she pointed out that the pressure on his person is increasing. She clarified that her party is willing to support the future prime minister, but under certain conditions, including respect for her voters.
Macron’s expected speech
Immediately after the vote of no confidence in the government, the Elysee Palace said Macron would address the citizens in a televised address on Thursday evening.
On Wednesday, 331 out of 574 members of the National Assembly voted to express no confidence in the government of Michel Barnier. Barnier will thus become the shortest-serving prime minister of the French Fifth Republic, which has existed since 1958.
It is the first time since 1962 that a French government has fallen on a vote of no confidence. Barnier was appointed to the post by President Macron in September to break the deadlock following early elections.
Political crisis in France
France, the eurozone’s second-largest economy, was plunged into another political crisis on Monday when Barnier used his power to push through a bill on the social security budget without a vote in parliament. After this decision, the left alliance New People’s Front (NFP) submitted a motion of no confidence. The proposal was also supported in the vote by the RN, which failed to push through the required changes in the 2025 budget.
Prime Minister Barnier and members of the government will have to submit their resignation to Macron. This will happen at a time when another of the largest economies of the European Union, Germany, is weakened and faces early parliamentary elections – and also a few weeks before the re-entry of the newly elected US President Donald Trump into the White House.
Macron may now ask Barnier to remain in the role of interim prime minister, as the search for a new prime minister could take until next year.
A new prime minister even before the opening of the cathedral?
According to Reuters, however, the French president could appoint a new prime minister even before Saturday’s official reopening ceremony of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.
However, Macron has not yet decided on the name of the new prime minister. According to Reuters sources, the list includes, for example, former Socialist Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, former Minister of Health or Labor Xavier Bertrand and Minister of Defense Sébastien Lecornu.
