French government toppled after no-confidence vote in Prime Minister Michel Barnier

France’s Prime Minister has been ousted in a historic no-confidence vote after just three months in office, further plunging the country into political chaos.

France’s Prime Minister has been ousted in a no-confidence vote after just three months in office, further plunging the country into political chaos.

Michel Barnier’s tenure as PM is now the shortest in French history, with the National Assembly lower house on Wednesday voting to topple the incumbent government for the first time in more than 60 years.

The motion was brought by the hard-left but was backed by the far-right headed by Marine Le Pen, resulting in a majority of 331 MPs in the 577-member chamber voting to oust the government.

It came in response to a controversial move by Mr Barnier to ram budget cuts through parliament to halt a national debt explosion.

Mr Barnier was handed an impossible mission when he took over the helm of the French parliament in July following snap elections called by President Emmanuel Macron after a series of surprise successes by Ms Le Pen’s far right.

French Prime Minister Michel Barnier. Picture: Alain Jocard/AFP

The result was an unexpectedly hung parliament with no party having an overall majority. Mr Barnier’s short-lived minority government depend upon unlikely partnerships with the far left and far right.

No new elections are permitted within one year under the French constitution, and Mr Macron now faces the unenviable choice of picking a viable successor from a narrow range of options.

Mr Macron, who just returned from Saudi Arabia, will address the nation at 7pm on Thursday, local time, his office said on Wednesday.

His aides gave no details on when a new Prime Minister could be appointed.

France’s hard left on Wednesday urged Mr Macron to resign and hold early presidential elections. He currently has more than two years of his presidential term left.

“We are now calling on Macron to go,” Mathilde Panot, the head of the parliamentary faction of the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party told reporters, urging “early presidential elections” to solve a deepening political crisis.

National Rally leader Marine Le Pen. Picture: Alain Jocard/AFP

Wednesday’s National Assembly motion came amid a standoff over next year’s austerity budget, after Mr Barnier on Monday forced through a social security financing bill without a vote.

Emergency budget measures included some $80 billion in government spending cuts and $40 billion in tax hikes.

Mr Barnier had warned the proposed budget would mean some 18 million French families “will see their income tax increase”, but he insisted the move to cut the budget deficit from 6 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) to 3 per cent by 2029 was necessary to stabilise the nation’s economy.

Following the no-confidence vote, Speaker Yael Braun-Pivet confirmed Mr Barnier would now have to “submit his resignation” to Mr Macron and declared the session closed.

Mr Macron flew back into Paris just ahead of the vote after wrapping up his three-day state visit to Saudi Arabia, an apparent world away from the domestic crisis.

He strolled earlier Wednesday through the desert sands of the Al-Ula oasis, an iconic tourist project of the kingdom, marvelling at ancient landmarks. After landing, he headed direct to the Elysee Palace.

On Tuesday, Mr Macron accused Ms Le Pen’s far-right of “unbearable cynicism” in backing the motion.

French President Emmanuel Macron. Picture: Ludovic Marin/AFP

Laurent Wauquiez, the head of right-wing deputies in parliament, said the far-right and hard-left bore the responsibility for a no-confidence vote that will “plunge the country into instability”.

Mr Macron had previously rejected calls for his resignation, saying such a scenario amounted to “political fiction”.

“It’s frankly not up to scratch to say these things,” Mr Macron said during his trip to Saudi.

Eric Coquerel, a hard-left MP, said the motion against Mr Barnier sounded the “death knell of Emmanuel Macron’s mandate”.

With markets nervous and France bracing for public-sector strikes over the threat of cutbacks that will shut schools and hit air and rail traffic, there is a growing sense of crisis.

The unions have called for civil servants, including teachers and air traffic controllers, to strike on Thursday over separate cost-cutting measures proposed by their respective ministries this autumn.

Meanwhile, Mr Macron is due to host a major international event Saturday with the reopening of the Notre-Dame cathedral after the 2019 fire, with guests including Donald Trump on his first foreign trip since he was elected to be the next US President.

Mathilde Panot, leader of the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI). Picture: Julien De Rosa/AFP

“His failure,” was left-wing daily Liberation’s front-page headline, with a picture of Mr Macron, whose term runs until 2027.

But in an editorial, Le Monde said Ms Le Pen’s move risked upsetting her own supporters, such as retirees and business leaders, by toppling the government.

“In the space of a few minutes, she shattered the strategy of normalisation she had consistently pursued,” the newspaper said.

Some observers have suggested that Ms Le Pen, 56, is seeking to bring down Mr Macron before his term ends by ousting Mr Barnier.

Ms Le Pen is embroiled in a high-profile embezzlement trial. If found guilty in March, she could be blocked from participating in France’s next presidential election.

But if Mr Macron stepped down soon, an election would have to be called within a month, potentially ahead of the verdict in her trial.

Candidates for the post of Prime Minister are few and far between, but loyalist Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu and Macron’s centrist ally Francois Bayrou are possible contenders.

On the left, Mr Macron could turn to former Socialist premier and interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve, a contender in September.

Mr Macron is minded to appoint the new premier rapidly, several sources told AFP. It was the first successful no-confidence vote since a defeat for Georges Pompidou’s government in 1962, when Charles de Gaulle was president.

The lifespan of Mr Barnier’s government is also the shortest of any administration since the Fifth Republic began in 1958.

— with AFP