Political crisis in France: the government has resigned – what’s next
4 December 2024 23:59
In France, the National Assembly (the lower house of parliament) supported a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Michel Barnier. The ministers were dismissed. This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to Le Figaro.
The vote of no confidence was passed by 331 members of the National Assembly (the lower house of parliament). In total, 289 votes were needed for this decision.
According to the newspaper, Michel Barnier became the first head of government to be dismissed after Georges Pompidou in 1962 and the shortest-serving prime minister of the Fifth Republic.
“This is the reality. I tried to fight it by presenting complex financial texts. I would have preferred to give money away, even though we don’t have it. But this reality remains, it will not disappear by magic,” said Prime Minister Michel Barnier.
The government’s vote of no confidence, passed Wednesday night by the National Assembly, de facto halts the €5 billion cut to the community budget for 2025.
Michel Barnier is expected to present his government’s resignation to Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace on Thursday at 10 a.m., the president told AFP.
According to Article 50 of the Constitution, after a vote of no confidence is passed by the deputies, “the prime minister must submit to the president of the republic a statement of resignation of the government.”
President Emmanuel Macron promised to resolve the issue of appointing Barnier’s successor within 24 hours.
According to media reports, possible candidates are Minister of the Armed Forces Sebastian Lecornu and Francois Bayrou.
It should be noted that Macron appointed Michel Barnier as Prime Minister on September 5 and instructed him to form a new government.
And on September 7, tens of thousands of people in different cities of France took to the streets to protest.
