French legislature expresses no confidence in Macron's Prime Minister
Michel Barnier has become the first French prime minister in over sixty years to face defeat in a no-confidence vote. Read Full Article at RT.com.
TroibNews 
French Prime Minister Michel Barnier is the first prime minister since 1962 to lose a no-confidence vote in parliament, as lawmakers from both the left and right collaborated to remove him.
A no-confidence motion requires 288 votes in the National Assembly. On Wednesday evening, the motion garnered 331 votes, with the left-wing New Popular Front and the right-wing National Rally uniting against the minority cabinet put in place by President Emmanuel Macron.
“I don’t consider it a victory,” RN’s Marine Le Pen told TF1 after the vote. “We made the choice we made to protect the French people.”
“It was not done lightly,” Le Pen added. “There was no other solution.”
Jean-Luc Melenchon, the leader of the NPF’s largest party, asserted that the outcome was “inevitable” and called for Macron’s resignation.
“Even with a Barnier every three months, Macron will not last three years,” he said on X. The French president has ruled out resigning, however.
Macron appointed Barnier in September, which angered NPF leaders. The left-wing coalition had emerged from the summer’s snap elections with the most seats in parliament as part of a pact with the president aimed at marginalizing RN. However, Macron subsequently sidelined NPF in favor of a minority cabinet that depended on tacit support from RN.
Tensions escalated over the social security budget proposal, where Barnier sought to cut spending by €40 billion and raise €20 billion in taxes in response to a significant deficit. RN threatened a no-confidence vote unless the cabinet complied with several concessions regarding its “red lines.”
Le Pen accused the prime minister of being “extremely closed-minded and sectarian” during budget negotiations and imposed a deadline for Barnier to meet RN’s demands, which Budget Minister Laurent Saint-Martin rejected.
Since the establishment of the Fifth Republic in 1958, there have been nearly 150 no-confidence motions, but prior to Wednesday, only one government had ever been ousted—Georges Pompidou’s, in October 1962.
Barnier is expected to remain as caretaker PM until Macron can select a replacement. Following July’s parliamentary election, it took the French president nearly two months to make his previous appointment, and another vote is not possible due to the French constitution, which prohibits it for at least a year.
James del Carmen contributed to this report for TROIB News
A no-confidence motion requires 288 votes in the National Assembly. On Wednesday evening, the motion garnered 331 votes, with the left-wing New Popular Front and the right-wing National Rally uniting against the minority cabinet put in place by President Emmanuel Macron.
“I don’t consider it a victory,” RN’s Marine Le Pen told TF1 after the vote. “We made the choice we made to protect the French people.”
“It was not done lightly,” Le Pen added. “There was no other solution.”
Jean-Luc Melenchon, the leader of the NPF’s largest party, asserted that the outcome was “inevitable” and called for Macron’s resignation.
“Even with a Barnier every three months, Macron will not last three years,” he said on X. The French president has ruled out resigning, however.
Macron appointed Barnier in September, which angered NPF leaders. The left-wing coalition had emerged from the summer’s snap elections with the most seats in parliament as part of a pact with the president aimed at marginalizing RN. However, Macron subsequently sidelined NPF in favor of a minority cabinet that depended on tacit support from RN.
Tensions escalated over the social security budget proposal, where Barnier sought to cut spending by €40 billion and raise €20 billion in taxes in response to a significant deficit. RN threatened a no-confidence vote unless the cabinet complied with several concessions regarding its “red lines.”
Le Pen accused the prime minister of being “extremely closed-minded and sectarian” during budget negotiations and imposed a deadline for Barnier to meet RN’s demands, which Budget Minister Laurent Saint-Martin rejected.
Since the establishment of the Fifth Republic in 1958, there have been nearly 150 no-confidence motions, but prior to Wednesday, only one government had ever been ousted—Georges Pompidou’s, in October 1962.
Barnier is expected to remain as caretaker PM until Macron can select a replacement. Following July’s parliamentary election, it took the French president nearly two months to make his previous appointment, and another vote is not possible due to the French constitution, which prohibits it for at least a year.
James del Carmen contributed to this report for TROIB News
