French parliament backs no-confidence motion against government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier
In short:
The French National Assembly has ousted Prime Minister Michel Barnier in a no-confidence vote backed by 331 of the 574 members of parliament.
It is the first time in over 60 years that a sitting prime minister has been toppled.
What's next?
French President Emmanuel Macron now faces the risk of political instability within the government and will have to pick a viable successor to Mr Barnier.
The French National Assembly has ousted the government of prime minister Michel Barnier after a no-confidence vote.
It is the first time in over 60 years that a sitting French prime minister has been toppled by a successful no-confidence motion.
The crisis was triggered after Mr Barnier forced through a social security budget bill without a vote in parliament.
Michel Barnier faced backlash after forcing through a social security bill without a vote. (Reuters: Sarah Meyssonnier)
The government's political opponents on the left and far right of the French parliament sought to punish Mr Barnier for opting to use special constitutional powers to adopt part of the unpopular budget, which aimed to include 60 billion euros ($97.9 billion) in savings to shrink a gaping deficit.
"This [deficit] reality will not disappear by the magic of a motion of censure," Mr Barnier told politicians ahead of the vote on Wednesday, adding the budget deficit would come back to haunt whichever government comes next.
The ousting of the Barnier government after just three months in office will deepen the country's political crisis and means President Emmanuel Macron will have to pick a viable successor with over two years of his presidential term left.
After being installed in September, Mr Barnier's three-month tenure also means that he is set to become the shortest-serving prime minister since the beginning of the country's fifth republic in 1958.
France now risks ending the year without a stable government or a 2025 budget, although the country's constitution allows for special measures to be implemented that would avert a US-style government shutdown.
Two no-confidence motions on Mr Barnier's leadership were moved by parties on the far right and left of the French parliament on Wednesday evening, local time.
The motion brought by Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally (RN) party was expected to be rejected.
But Ms Le Pen said her forces would back the left's motion, giving it enough numbers to pass the vote.
Ms Le Pen said collapsing the government was "the only way the constitution gives us to protect the French from a dangerous, unfair and punitive budget".
In the final result, 331 of the 574 members of the National Assembly voted in support of the no-confidence motion. A minimum of 288 members in support of the motion were needed for it to pass.
Mr Barnier is expected to tender his resignation and that of his government to Mr Macron later in the evening.
France's President Emmanuel Macron, pictured in September, will now have to pick a viable successor prime minister with over two years of his presidential term left. (Reuters: Ludovic Marin)
Immediately after the vote, Ms Le Pen declared that political pressure was piling up on Mr Macron, but did not call for his resignation.
Politicians on the hard left of the French parliament urged the president to resign and to hold early presidential elections.
"We are now calling on Macron to go," Mathilde Panot, the head of the parliamentary faction of the France Unbowed (LFI) party, told reporters.
The no confidence motion against Mr Barnier's leadership was backed by 331 of the 574 members of the National Assembly voted in support of the no confidence motion. (Reuters: Sarah Meyssonnier)
The president has insisted that he plans to serve the remainder of his term until 2027, saying earlier that discussions about him potentially resigning were "make-believe politics," according to French media reports.
"I'm here because I've been elected twice by the French people," Mr Macron said on Tuesday.
What could happen next in France?
Early reports from Reuters suggest that Mr Macron aims to install a new prime minister swiftly, potentially before a scheduled ceremony to reopen the historic Notre Dame Cathedral on Saturday.
The president is expected to deliver a televised address to the nation at 7pm on Thursday, local time (4am Friday AEST), the Élysée Palace said, according to reports from Reuters and AFP.
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen declared political pressure is piling up on French President Emmanuel Macron after the vote of no confidence in Michel Barnier, but did not call for his resignation (Reuters: Sarah Meyssonnier)
Any new prime minister would face the same challenges as Mr Barnier in getting bills, including the 2025 budget, adopted by a divided French parliament.
There can be no new parliamentary election before July.
A caretaker government could either propose emergency legislation to roll over the tax-and-spend provisions in the 2024 budget into next year, or invoke special powers to pass the draft 2025 budget by decree.
Reuters/AFP