French PM faces ouster as opposition vows no-confidence vote

PARIS: France´s Michel Barnier faced an abrupt end to his premiership on Monday after key opposition parties said they would back a no-confidence motion against his government after only three months in power.

Certain that the National Assembly would deny him a majority backing the government´s social security financing plan for next year, Barnier forced through the bill without a vote, using executive powers under article 49.3 of the French constitution.

The conservative premier, who formed a minority government in September after an inconclusive general election, has lived under the constant threat of a no-confidence vote that could force him to quit.

The government could be toppled as early as Wednesday, when a vote is expected. “I honestly believe that the French people will not forgive us if we prefer partisan interests to the best interest of the nation,” Barnier told the lawmakers.

“This is a moment of truth in which everybody must take their responsibilities. I am taking mine,” he added.

Far-left opposition party LFI said immediately it would bring a no-confidence motion which the far-right National Rally (RN) -- the largest single party in France´s parliament -- said it would vote in favour of, after accusing Barnier of failing to negotiate on some of the bill´s provisions. “We will vote no confidence,” the RN said on X.

Key to any such vote is Marine Le Pen, the parliamentary leader of the RN that has opposed several parts of the government´s 2025 budget plan, including the social security financing bill submitted to the National Assembly on Monday.

In a last-ditch concession to the RN, the prime minister´s office said it was scrapping plans for a less generous prescription drug reimbursement policy from next year. It was uncertain to the last moment whether the nod to Le Pen´s concerns would be enough to save the day for Barnier, who has little hope of finding any left-wing support.

But in the end the “miracle” -- which RN party leader Jordan Bardella said was needed to avoid the no-confidence motion -- failed to materialise.

LFI deputy Mathilde Panot said Barnier had sought to avoid the no-confidence vote by making “dishonourable” concessions to the RN. “On Wednesday he will get both, dishonour and the no-confidence vote,” she said, adding that the move would allow France to emerge from “a political impasse” and “political chaos”.

If the government falls, it would be the first successful no-confidence vote since a defeat for Georges Pompidou´s government in 1962, when Charles de Gaulle was president. The life span of Barnier´s government would also be the shortest of any administration of France´s Fifth Republic since 1958.