Michel Barnier, the French prime minister, is set to be forced out of
his post this week in a move that would leave the country facing a
political crisis unlike anything it has experienced for six decades.
His fall risks dragging France deeper into a crisis that has already
sent shockwaves across the Continent, amid concerns that the EU’s
second biggest power is now ungovernable and burdened by a spiralling
public debt.
Barnier, who announced that he would push through a controversial
budget, appeared to have only a slender chance of keeping his job after
he dared opposition parties to vote in a no confidence motion that he
warned would take France into “unknown territory”.
After the populist right National Rally said it would back the
left-wing motion due to go before the National Assembly on Wednesday or
Thursday, Barnier’s fate seems sealed, barring a last minute
turnaround.
Not since 1962 has a French prime minister suffered the humiliation of
being ousted by parliament.
Within minutes of Barnier’s apparent gamble, the euro plunged by 1.01
per cent against the dollar and by 0.21 per cent against the pound.
France’s borrowing costs also escalated sharply. At one point, French
costs rose above those of Greece in a sign that confidence in Paris is
plummeting on world markets.
Talks between Marine Le Pen’s party and the conservative prime minister
have been going on for two weeks
Talks between Marine Le Pen’s party and the conservative prime minister
have been going on for two weeks
MOHAMAD SALAHELDIN ABDELG ALSAYED/ANADOLU AGENCY/GETTY IMAGES
The tumble underlined the jitters besetting financial markets at the
prospect of seeing the French public deficit — already expected to
reach 6.2 per cent of GDP this year — increase still further without a
government at the helm.
[1]President Macron is in the firing line, with detractors lining up to
blame him for leading France into an impasse.
Critics of the centrist, who became France’s youngest head of state
since Napoleon Bonaparte when he was elected in 2017, are already
suggesting that only his resignation could end the turmoil.
Barnier — [2]appointed by Macron in September in the hope that he could
end the political deadlock that had followed the president’s unexpected
decision to call snap parliamentary elections this summer — was already
the weakest prime minister in recent French history.
• [3]Marine Le Pen’s chance to oust Michel Barner and why she may
regret it
Now he is in danger of becoming the shortest-lived as well after he
announced that he would use an executive order to push through the
legislation on next year’s social security budget.
Barnier, 73, the EU’s former Brexit negotiator, made the announcement
after realising that his bill stood no chance of being approved by the
National Assembly, where the loose-knit coalition of centrists and
conservatives is outweighed.
His move opens the way for opposition parties to put down motions of no
confidence in the government. The left immediately said it would do so
and [4]Marine Le Pen, the rally figurehead, announced that her party
would back the motion. Together, they have enough MPs to topple
Barnier’s cabinet.
Barnier made a series of concessions to Le Pen, 56, who effectively has
his fate in her hands.
He had bowed to her demands to scrap plans to raise a tax on
electricity and to make patients pay for some medicines out of their
own pockets instead of receiving them free from the welfare state. But
he has refused another demand to raise state pensions in line with
inflation in January for all retired people.
Barnier could still save his skin by performing a U-turn over this
request, although he appears to have ruled out any such capitulation.
His aides say he has made enough concessions already to Le Pen whom
they accuse of acting “like a blackmailer”.
Barnier told parliament: “We have reached a moment of truth which means
that everyone has to face up to their responsibilities.”
President Macron appointed Barnier in September in the hope that he
could end the political deadlock
President Macron appointed Barnier in September in the hope that he
could end the political deadlock
BUDA MENDES/GETTY IMAGES
He told MPs they had a choice between backing the government and
“taking France into unknown territory”.
“I think very sincerely that the French people would not forgive us if
we prefer [party] interests over the future of the nation. The French
people … want stability.”
Barnier came to office pledging to save €60 billion through spending
cuts and tax rises, and warning of financial meltdown if he was
prevented from implementing the plan.
His words fell on deaf ears as Le Pen denounced the government’s social
security budget as “profoundly unjust”. She accused Barnier of wanting
to “make the French pay for the consequences of Emmanuel Macron’s
incompetence over the past seven years”. She added: “It is wrong to
punish the French people for acts for which they are not responsible
and for which their leaders are responsible.”
Mathilde Panot, a prominent MP with the radical left France Unbowed
party, said: “Michel Barnier will probably enter history as the
shortest lived prime minister of the Fifth French Republic [which came
into force in 1958].
“All that is left now is for the president to quit.”
References
1.
https://www.thetimes.com/topic/emmanuel-macron
2.
https://www.thetimes.com/world/europe/article/michel-barnier-in-the-frame-to-be-french-prime-minister-hmhg7hnjh
3.
https://www.thetimes.com/article/marine-le-pen-oust-michel-barnier-hmjzrxzxw
4.
https://www.thetimes.com/topic/marine-le-pen
