French President Emmanuel Macron will address the nation on Thursday night, following the ousting of Prime Minister Michel Barnier in a no-confidence vote the previous day.
On Thursday, the presidency announced that Barnier had resigned, but would remain in a caretaker role with his ministers until a new government is appointed.
Speculation has arisen about potential candidates for the new prime minister, including Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, and centrist former presidential candidate François Bayrou.
However, finding a suitable candidate who will gain support from all major parliamentary factions could take some time, as seen in the summer when former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal served as a caretaker for two months.
Barnier’s government collapsed after MPs overwhelmingly voted in favor of the motion against him, just three months after his appointment by Macron.
Wednesday night’s vote marked the first time in more than 60 years that a French government had been voted out by parliament.
Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally and the left-wing New Popular Front united in censuring Barnier’s government after he used special powers to pass his budget without a vote.
A total of 331 MPs voted for the motion, surpassing the 288 votes needed to pass it.
Following the vote, Barnier presented his resignation, and the budget that led to his downfall was automatically withdrawn.
Although Barnier’s resignation does not directly affect Macron’s position as president, many opposition politicians are increasingly vocal in their calls for Macron’s resignation and early presidential elections, something Macron has firmly rejected.
The left-wing New Popular Front, which won the most seats in the parliamentary elections, had previously criticized Macron’s decision to appoint centrist Barnier as prime minister instead of their own candidate.
Alongside the far-right National Rally, they deemed Barnier’s budget, which included €60bn (£49bn) in deficit reduction, unacceptable.
Marine Le Pen, the National Rally leader, called the budget “toxic for the French.”
Ahead of the vote, Barnier told the National Assembly that removing him from office would not solve the country’s financial issues.
“We’ve reached a moment of truth, of responsibility,” he said, adding that “we must face the reality of our debt.”
“I didn’t propose these tough measures out of choice,” he continued.
In an interview with French broadcaster TF1, Le Pen stated that there was “no other solution” but to remove Barnier.
When asked about the possibility of Macron resigning, she replied, “I am not calling for Emmanuel Macron’s resignation.”
However, many of her allies are increasingly hoping to force him to step down. National Rally adviser Philippe Olivier told Le Monde that the president was “a fallen republican monarch, advancing with his shirt open and a rope around his neck up to the next dissolution [of parliament].”
With no new parliamentary elections possible until July, the current deadlock in the Assembly, where no group can secure a working majority, is expected to persist.
