France’s minority government is on the brink of collapse after Prime Minister Michel Barnier used special powers to force through his budget without a vote in parliament.
Furious opposition parties said they would back a no-confidence motion to oust the former Brexit negotiator in a vote that could take place as early as Wednesday.
Barnier opted to push through controversial reforms to social security by invoking presidential decree after failing to win enough support for the measures.
One left wing French MP told the BBC the move had left France in “deep, huge political crisis”.
France has been beset by political uncertainty since President Macron called snap elections over the summer which resulted in a hung parliament where no party had an absolute majority.
A left-wing alliance won most seats, and the conservative Barnier – appointed by Macron to bring stability to the French government – has faced the constant threat of a vote that could force him out.
While Barnier had made last-minute concessions to the social security funding bill – which sought to rein in France’s spiralling deficit – his efforts were insufficient to get it over the line.
Certain that the National Assembly would reject the bill, Barnier used executive powers under article 49.3 of the French constitution to force it through.
“I don’t think French people will forgive us for choosing party interests over the future of the country,” Barnier told MPs on Tuesday as he explained the reasons for his decision. “Now, everybody will need to assume their own responsibility as I have assumed mine.”
Almost immediately, the left wing opposition party France Unbowed (LFI) and Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) said they would table no-confidence votes.
Le Pen told reporters in parliament that “the French have had enough”.
The budget bill sought to deliver €60bn (£49bn) in tax rises and spending cuts.
But Barnier was forced to cave to changes demanded by critics due to his lack of a parliamentary majority.
These included scrapping a previously planned hike in electricity tax, as well as plans for a less generous prescription drug reimbursement policy from next year.
The new version remained unacceptable to the opposition, with the RN joining the left in opposing it.
Barnier has warned of the financial and political effects of unseating him, but Mathilde Panot, president of the LFI, said on Monday that “there will not be chaos once Mr Barnier and his government have gone”.
“We are now experiencing political chaos as a result of both Mr Barnier’s government and Emmanuel Macron’s presidency.”
Nathalie Oziol, an MP with the hard left France Unbowed, told the BBC’s Newshour programme, France was in a “deep, huge political crisis”.
“One sure thing is that this government has not led to any form of stability, that Macron’s politics have not led to any form of stability – and that has worsened in the last month,” the MP said.
If Barnier doesn’t survive Wednesday’s no confidence vote, he will remain in place as a caretaker prime minister until Macron announces a new government.
That could be a new majority government – unlikely given the splintering of the French parliament – or a technocratic government, to steer the country until new elections can be held next summer.
The process could take weeks, as it did after a snap general election delivered a hung parliament in summer.
Several parties are also clamouring for new presidential elections. As it stands, Macron is due to stay in post until 2027.
If the government does not survive the vote, the budget bill will fail too.
