Pegasus Reporters Issues on the Wing
“The lifespan of Barnier’s government is the shortest of any administration in the history of France’s Fifth Republic, which began in 1958. Having only been appointed prime minister less than three months”
*With Macron during the Armistice Day celebration
PEGASUS REPORTERS, LAGOS | DECEMBER 5, 2024
The French Government has collapsed after the Brexit-hating prime minister lost a no-confidence vote after just 90 days in power. Michel Barnier has become the first prime minister since 1962 to be forced out by such a vote. Emmanuel Macron has announced he will address the nation tomorrow evening as the growing political crisis engulfs his presidency.
French lawmakers voted 331 out of 574 in support of the motion, which saw the far left and far right unite in an unholy alliance. Just 288 votes were needed to see Barnier ousted.
Speaking to French media after the result, the leader of the far-right National Rally party (RN) Marine Le Pen said that her party’s support for the vote was to ‘protect the French’.
The French Prime Minister had been appointed on September 5 – a mere three months ago.
Barnier was the European Union’s Brexit negotiator with successive British Prime Ministers following the 2016 referendum.
Michel Barnier has today become the first prime minister since 1962 to be forced out by a no-confidence vote
The President of France Emmanuel Macron now faces the task of hiring his fourth prime minister in less than a year as opposition politicians call for him to step down.
The lifespan of Barnier’s government is the shortest of any administration in the history of France’s Fifth Republic, which began in 1958. Having only been appointed prime minister less than three months.
The vote comes after Barnier was unable to pass his budget for next year which proposed 60 billion euros in tax hikes and spending cuts in a bid to tackle France’s financial woes.
These cuts and tax rises were aimed at tackling the country’s deficit which stands at over six per cent of the entire economy and is twice as much as the limit imposed by the European Union.
Unable to raise a majority in the hung parliament created by a snap election over the summer, Barnier said he would push the budget through via a presidential decree.
Such a move has become common under President Macron, who is accused of ignoring democracy and acting like a dictator.
Following the vote, the leader of the French far-right Marine Le Pen has said that pressure on Macron is increasing following the result. However, Le Pen has stopped short of calling for the president’s resignation.
During an interview with France’s TF1 she said:’I’m not dizzy, I don’t consider it a victory. I consider that we had a choice to make and the choice we made was to protect the French.’
Macron, who will address the nation tomorrow evening in a televised speech, now faces the task of hiring his fourth pm in less than a year as opposition politicians call for him to step down.
He said earlier he plans to name a new prime minister very quickly, possibly even before the grand reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral at the weekend, according to sources in Macron’s camp, including parliamentary sources.
But any new prime minister would face the same challenges as Barnier in getting bills, including the 2025 budget, adopted by a divided parliament. There can be no new parliamentary election before July.
The lifespan of Barnier’s government is the shortest of any administration of France’s Fifth Republic, which began in 1958.
What’s more, Barnier’s ousting would leave France mired in a lingering political crisis, as no new elections can be called within a year of the previous legislative polls.
Macron, who won a second mandate in 2022, in many ways caused the recent crisis by calling the snap parliamentary election in June – which saw Macron’s centrist Ensemble party slump to second place behind the far left.
His term as president runs until mid-2027 and he cannot be forced out by parliament, but the RN and the hard left have already been saying he should resign as he faces his biggest crisis since the Yellow Vest popular unrest of 2018-19.
Culled from Dailymail.com
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