Bye bye Barnier
05 December 2024
Prime minister Michel Barnier's three-month-young cabinet collapsed on Wednesday night, following a parliamentary vote of no confidence. Barnier forced through a budget bill neither the left nor the far-right opposition blocs were pleased by. The problem? Together, they form the absolute majority of the National Assembly.
As Barnier chose to push the unpopular budget through nonetheless, the two parties responded by each posing a vote of no confidence. To Barnier's demise; his government was toppled in the first successful no-confidence vote since 1962.
![]() | Guillaume Amouret Macron lost his bet when he dissolved the National Assembly on the last day of the European elections, as the opposition parties came out stronger from the polls than before. The parliament now once again has the power to influence the country's policy, but it comes at the price of a reverse musical chair game for the premiership: the chair remains, while the number of contenders shrinks. The French constitution prevents the dissolution of the National Assembly more than once within a 12-month period, so it cannot be dissolved until next June. In the country's deepening political crisis, president Emmanuel Macron announced he'll name a new prime minister in a matter of days. |
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