Paris: The French National Assembly (the lower house of parliament) Monday voted no confidence in Francois Bayrou’s government, just nine months after he took office.
According to Qatar News Agency, the vote was called by the Prime Minister, who lost by a large margin. A total of 364 deputies voted in favor of the no confidence motion, while only 194 supported Bayrou. National Assembly President Yael Brun-Pivet stated, “In accordance with Article 50 of the Constitution, the Prime Minister must submit the resignation of his government.”
Francois Bayrou, aged 74, has been Prime Minister for just nine months. The French presidency announced that President Emmanuel Macron will name a new prime minister in the coming days. In a statement, the presidency said that Macron will meet with Prime Minister Francois Bayrou Tuesday to accept the resignation of his government.
Francois Bayrou is the second prime minister to be ousted by French President Emmanuel Macron since his unexpected decision to dissolve the National Assembly in 2024 following the far-right’s dominance in the European Parliament elections, which plunged France into a significant political and financial crisis.
Ahead of the vote, Bayrou, whose government has faced criticism for its plans to rein in the ballooning public debt, asserted that France’s future was at stake due to its “excessive debt,” which has reached 114 percent of GDP. He remarked, “Our country works and thinks it is getting richer, but in reality, it is getting poorer every year. It is a silent, invisible, internal bleeding that is unbearable.”
Bayrou warned Members of Parliament, “You have the power to overthrow the government, but you do not have the power to erase reality,” likening the burden of debt to “subjection to military force and deprivation of freedom.”