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French PM Bayrou Fails in Confidence Vote Amid Deepening Political Crisis

France’s debt crisis worsens as PM Bayrou loses a confidence vote, forcing Macron to appoint his fifth premier in two years.

François Bayrou | Photo- AP
Summary
  1. French Parliament voted 364–194 to dismiss PM Bayrou over proposed €44 billion cuts aimed at reducing the country’s debt crisis.

  2. Macron must now appoint a new prime minister amid a fragmented Parliament and rising domestic and international pressures.

  3. Both left and far-right leaders call for Macron’s resignation, warning that forming a stable government remains a steep challenge.

Hours after French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou warned that the country was facing a “life-threatening” debt, he lost the confidence vote passed in Parliament. This has deepened the country's political crisis, as President Emmanuel Macron must find a fifth prime minister in less than two years.

​According to his office, Bayrou, who has been in office for nine months, will submit his resignation on Tuesday. A new appointment will be made "in the coming days," according to Macron's office.

​The Bayrou-led government was overthrown by the National Assembly on Monday due to its proposals to cut roughly 44 billion euros ($52 billion) in order to lower the nation's debt.  Bayrou had bet his leadership on getting parliamentary approval for a budget plan that sought to reduce a debt load of 114 per cent of GDP and a deficit nearly double the EU's three per cent ceiling.

​News Agencies reported that since the head of state was initially elected in 2017, the 74-year-old politician has served as President Macron's sixth prime minister.  At a time when he is spearheading diplomatic efforts regarding the conflict in Ukraine, his removal would give Macron yet another domestic difficulty.

​Before the vote, Bayrou warned lawmakers: “You have the power to bring down the government, but you do not have the power to erase reality. Reality will remain relentless: expenses will continue to rise, and the burden of debt, already unbearable, will grow heavier and more costly.”

​However, with 364 votes against him and only 194 in favor, Parliament denied his appeal.

​According to the BBC, the hard-left France Unbowed leader, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, wrote on X: "Macron is now facing the people on the front line.  He has to leave, too.  In the 577-seat Parliament, the left bloc has a majority, but not enough to form a government on its own.​

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen also called for a snap election: “This moment marks the end of the agony of a phantom government.”

​Bayrou is expected to submit his resignation to French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday morning.​

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Macron has the option to name a member of the conservative party or his own centrist minority ruling group as the next premier, but doing so would require him to intensify a policy that hasn't produced a durable coalition.

He could pick a technocrat or take a more left-leaning approach and nominate a moderate socialist.  It seems unlikely that any of the scenarios would result in a parliamentary majority for the future government.

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