Barnier will leave office having served the shortest prime ministerial term in modern French history
France plunged into political turmoil on Wednesday as Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s government fell to a no-confidence vote, marking the shortest prime ministerial tenure in the modern history of this country.
The far-right National Rally and the left-wing New Popular Front alliance united to oust Barnier after his government attempted to push through an austere budget aimed at curbing France’s soaring deficit.
MPs voted decisively to pass the no-confidence motion against Michel Barnier, just three months after he was appointed prime minister by President Emmanuel Macron.
The motion, tabled by opposition parties, came in response to Barnier’s controversial use of special powers to bypass parliamentary approval for his austerity budget. It is the first time a French government has been toppled by a no-confidence vote since 1962.
Wednesday’s vote required 288 MPs to support the motion for it to pass. In the end, 331 MPs voted in favor.
The unprecedented collapse has raised alarms over the stability of the eurozone’s second-largest economy.
Three sources told Reuters that President of France Emmanuel Macron aimed to install a new prime minister swiftly, with one saying he wanted to name a premier before a ceremony to reopen the Notre-Dame Cathedral on Saturday.
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.
Alternatively, Macron could ask Barnier and his ministers to stay on in a caretaker capacity while he takes time to identify a prime minister able to attract sufficient cross-party support to pass legislation.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief: here are the top news stories for the 7th of October, covering the latest developments you need to k...
Israelis held a memorial ceremony in Kfar Aza near the Gaza Strip on Tuesday to commemorate those killed and taken hostages by Hamas on 7 October, 202...
Delegations from Israel and Hamas held their first day of indirect negotiations in Egypt on Monday on U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to halt the w...
Indonesian authorities have ended rescue operations on Tuesday at the collapsed Al Khoziny Islamic boarding school in Sidoarjo in East Java, where 61 ...
Heads of state are due to start arriving in the Amazonian city of Belém in a month’s time for the United Nations climate summit, yet much of the in...
Iran and France indicated on Monday that talks on the release of two French citizens held in Iran in exchange for an Iranian national detained by France were progressing.
France's new Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu resigned on Monday, barely 14 hours after appointing his new cabinet, after allies and foes alike threatened to topple his government, driving French stocks and the euro sharply lower.
In Paris on 5 October, President Macron’s office revealed the lineup for the new French government under Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu. Roland Lescure, a close ally of Emmanuel Macron, was tapped as finance minister, while the outgoing finance chief, Bruno Le Maire, was reassigned to defence.
A shooting in Nice, southeastern France, left two people dead and five injured on Friday, authorities said.
Video from the USGS (United States Geological Survey) showed on Friday (19 September) the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii erupting and spewing lava.
At least eight people have died and more than 90 others were injured following a catastrophic gas tanker explosion on a major highway in Mexico City’s Iztapalapa district on Wednesday, authorities confirmed.
At least 69 people have died and almost 150 injured following a powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Cebu City in the central Visayas region of the Philippines, officials said, making it one of the country’s deadliest disasters this year.
A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on 13 September with no tsunami threat, coming just weeks after the region endured a devastating 8.8-magnitude quake — the strongest since 1952.
Authorities in California have identified the dismembered body discovered in a Tesla registered to singer D4vd as 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who had been missing from Lake Elsinore since April 2024.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief: here are the top news stories for the 7th of October, covering the latest developments you need to know.
Israelis held a memorial ceremony in Kfar Aza near the Gaza Strip on Tuesday to commemorate those killed and taken hostages by Hamas on 7 October, 2023.
Delegations from Israel and Hamas held their first day of indirect negotiations in Egypt on Monday on U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to halt the war in Gaza, wrestling with contentious issues such as demands that Israel withdraw and Hamas disarm.
Indonesian authorities have ended rescue operations on Tuesday at the collapsed Al Khoziny Islamic boarding school in Sidoarjo in East Java, where 61 people were confirmed dead in the country's deadliest disaster this year.
Heads of state are due to start arriving in the Amazonian city of Belém in a month’s time for the United Nations climate summit, yet much of the infrastructure intended to welcome them remains incomplete.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment