France Faces New Political Crisis: PM Expected to Lose Confidence Vote

By Staff, Agencies

France is braced for another political crisis as the minority government of François Bayrou appears almost certain to be toppled in a confidence vote next month, amid deep political divisions over an unpopular austerity budget and debt-reduction plan.

“I will fight like a dog,” the centrist prime minister told L’Express on Tuesday after his surprise decision to call a vote of confidence from parliamentarians.

Bayrou, 74, a close ally of Emmanuel Macron, is expected to lose the vote as opposition parties on the far right and left said they would relish the opportunity to eject him after less than nine months in office.

Boris Vallaud, the head of the Socialist parliamentary group, told BFM TV: “We need to change politics and for that we need to change prime minister.”

Bayrou’s gamble – which involves Macron convening a special session of parliament on 8 September for a confidence vote that the prime minister has almost no chance of winning – has sparked fears of another political crisis less than a year after the previous government of Michel Barnier was toppled over budget disagreements after only three months.

The Paris stock market tumbled, shares in French banks sank and the country’s borrowing costs rose on Tuesday as investors fretted.

A planned protest movement against Bayrou’s proposed budget cuts, which gathered support on social media over the summer, as well as potential strikes and demonstrations by trade unions are expected to begin on 10 September, regardless of whether Bayrou is forced to quit.

The beleaguered politician attended a meeting of the CFDT trade union on Tuesday where he urged French political parties to think carefully about the vote, noting they had 13 days to “say whether they are on the side of chaos or responsibility”.

Bayrou said: “Is there or is there not a national emergency to rebalance the accounts, to escape excessive debt by choosing to reduce our deficits and produce more? That is the central question.”

In what was seen as a last-minute appeal to the left, he said he was prepared to demand a “specific effort” from high-wealth individuals, after his budget proposals were widely criticized for affecting poor people and pensioners while having less impact on the very wealthy.

If Bayrou is ousted, Macron would be dragged into domestic upheaval at a significant international moment for him, as he positions himself to play a role on Ukraine and the recognition of a Palestinian state.

Under the French political system, the president, who is head of state and has authority on foreign policy and national security, directly appoints a prime minister as head of government to run domestic affairs. Macron could swiftly appoint a new prime minister but they too could risk being ousted over the budget.