France: Barnier’s Government Collapses After Less than Three Months in Office

The National Assembly passed a vote of no confidence put forward by the Left. Commentary by Marine Le Pen, leader of the Rassemblement Nationale: “It's not a win, it's a choice for defending the French”

Michel Barnier

After less than three months in office in France, the government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier (pictured) falls: a vote of no confidence from the left, also supported from the right led by the leader of the National Rally party, Marine Le Pen, passed in the National Assembly with 331 votes in favor, far exceeding the necessary majority set at 288 votes.

In his speech preceding the dramatic vote, Barnier said, among other things: “I will remain honored to serve France and French citizens with dignity.” French media outlets recall that Barnier’s government “is the second in the French Fifth Republic to be toppled by a vote of no confidence in 62 years, after the government of Georges Pompidou in 1962.”

Barnier’s government was appointed less than three months ago following early legislative elections held in June-July 2024, resulting in a particularly fragmented French political picture.

On Monday, December 2, Prime Minister Barnier used Article 49.3 of the French Constitution to allow the passage of the Social Security funding bill without a parliamentary vote. A decision that, however, exposed him to two so-called “censorship proposals” submitted by the left-wing New Popular Front and Marine Le Pen’s right-wing Rassemblement Nationale parties.

The budget law presented by Barnier for 2025 envisages, among other things, “reducing the public deficit through a series of sharp cuts of 40 billion euros and an increase in the tax burden.” Although the Prime Minister tried to make some concessions to avoid censorship, especially with regard to the National Rally, the parties said they were not happy.

On the evening of Thursday, December 5, President Emmanuel Macron will address the nation. But the situation is becoming increasingly tense, with the left already calling for the resignation of the French president: “To break the deadlock the president has led the country into, there is only one solution: we demand that he leave,” told reporters Mathilde Panot, leader of the parliamentary group of the France Unconquered party.

Meanwhile, Marine Le Pen said she would “let the next prime minister work” on a financial maneuver that is “acceptable to all.” In moderate tones on television, she explained that Barnier’s fall was “not a victory” but that it was “a choice to defend the French.” “There was no other decision,” she said, adding that she “didn’t take it lightly.”