(Adnkronos) – French Prime Minister Michel Barnier is expected to resign today, after his government was brought down by a no-confidence vote just three months after taking office. The prime minister will submit his government’s resignation to President Emmanuel Macron and the president will address the nation this evening, the Elysée Palace said. “I can tell you that it will have been an honour for me to have served France and the French with dignity,” Barnier said in his last speech before the vote. “This no-confidence motion will make everything more serious and more difficult. Of that I am sure.”
Macron, with more than two years of his presidential term remaining, will have to choose a valid successor, while some opponents are calling on him to resign. The fragmented parliament will remain unchanged, as new legislative elections cannot be held before July. The no-confidence motion, tabled by the far left of the National Assembly, came at a time of stalemate over next year’s austerity budget, after the prime minister on Monday imposed the approval of a bill on the financing of social security without a vote.
With the decisive support of Marine Le Pen’s far-right Rassemblement National, a majority of the 331 deputies in the 577-member chamber voted to overthrow the government. Speaking on TF1 television after the vote, Le Pen said “we had a choice to make, and our choice is to protect the French” from a “toxic” budget. Le Pen also accused Macron of being “largely responsible for the current situation”, adding that “the pressure on the President of the Republic will become stronger and stronger”.
