The French government is all but certain to collapse later this week after far-right and left-wing parties submitted no-confidence motions on Monday against Prime Minister Michel Barnier.
Investors immediately punished French assets as the latest developments plunged the euro zone’s second-biggest economy deeper into political crisis, with serious doubt cast over whether the annual budget will be approved.
“The French have had enough,” National Rally (RN) leader Marine Le Pen told reporters in parliament, saying Barnier, who only became prime minister in early September, had made things worse and needed to be pushed out. “We are proposing a motion of no confidence against the government,” she said.
Barring a last-minute surprise, Barnier’s fragile coalition will be the first French government to be forced out by a no-confidence vote since 1962.
A government collapse would leave a hole at the heart of Europe, with Germany also in election mode, weeks ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump re-entering the White House.
RN lawmakers and the left combined have enough votes to topple Barnier and Le Pen confirmed her party would vote for the left-wing coalition’s no-confidence bill on top of the RN’s bill.
That vote is likely to be held on Wednesday.
