President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday gave his “full support” to France’s embattled prime minister, who has called a confidence vote that could see his government collapse next month.
Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said he would request the confidence vote in a bitterly divided parliament on September 8, as he tries to garner enough support for his plan to slash spending.
But the main opposition parties said they would not back the prime minister’s plan, with the far right urging Macron to call new parliamentary elections and the hard left saying the president himself must go.
Macron, now on his sixth prime minister since taking office in 2017, chaired a meeting of his cabinet on Wednesday.
The president has given his “full support” to Bayrou’s initiative, spokeswoman Sophie Primas said after the meeting.
Macron also called on France’s political parties “to act responsibly”, Primas added.
“The French president said — and I’ll use his exact words — that there is neither denial of reality nor exaggeration of France’s financial situation,” the spokeswoman said.
“France is a solid country, with economic resilience and significant financial capacity.”
Bayrou has vowed to “fight like a dog” to stay in power and is expected to discuss the vote of confidence on television on Wednesday evening.
– ‘Dissolution’ –
Macron is weighing his options as he seeks to contain the looming political crisis.
If the government falls, he could appoint a new prime minister, dissolve parliament again or resign.
Macron gambled on snap polls last summer in a bid to head off the far-right and bolster his authority, but the move backfired and left a deadlocked parliament.
Even some members of Macron’s camp now believe calling new elections might be the only solution.
“No one wants it, but it is inevitable,” a senior member of the presidential team told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The president has said he wants to avoid dissolving parliament again but has also suggested he could not rule out that option.
Edouard Philippe, a former prime minister and strong centrist contender for the 2027 presidential election, backed Bayrou but said a new dissolution of the lower house could happen in the event of a persistent deadlock.
“If nothing happens, if no government can prepare a budget, how can this issue be resolved? Through dissolution,” he told AFP.
Green leader Marine Tondelier urged Macron to appoint a left-wing prime minister in line with the results of last summer’s snap polls.
An alliance of leftist parties won the most seats last year but fell short of an absolute majority.
“There is no suspense about the fact that Francois Bayrou will fall on September 8,” Tondelier told AFP. “Our movement is currently working on a crisis exit plan.”
– ‘One way out’ –
A broad anti-government campaign dubbed “Bloquons tout” (“Let’s block everything”) and backed by the left has urged the French to stage a nationwide shutdown on September 10.
After years of overspending, France is on notice to control its public deficit and cut its sprawling debt, as required under EU rules.
At 114 percent of GDP, the country’s debt is the third largest in the eurozone behind Greece and Italy.
Bayrou said he wanted to save about 44 billion euros ($51 billion) with measures that include reducing the number of public holidays and placing a freeze on spending increases.
In mid-July, he presented 2026 budget proposals but the measures have proved deeply unpopular.
Political jockeying is heating up ahead of the presidential election in 2027, when Macron’s second term is set to end, and the far-right senses a real chance to come to power.
“There is only one way out of this political impasse we find ourselves in, and that is to return to the polls,” Jordan Bardella, head of the far-right National Rally party, told TF1 on Tuesday evening.
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