France on the brink of a government crisis.
Following Prime Minister Michel Barnier's announcement that he would use Article 49.3 of the Constitution to adopt the welfare budget – which allows the government in office to pass a measure (in this case the budget) without debate in the Chamber but by raising a vote of confidence – Jean Luc Mélenchon's France Insoumise (LFI) announced, as expected, a "motion of censure" (no confidence) against the government.
Marine Le Pen's Rassemblement National (RN) confirmed shortly after that it would vote with the left on Wednesday to bring down the government. "We will vote for censure," the far-right party with the largest number of MPs in the National Assembly in Paris reported on X. This pool will allow the gauche's motion to gather over 300 votes , allowing for its adoption (set at 288 votes) and the inexorable fall of the Barnier government, just two months after taking office.
The prime minister had pledged to renounce the suspension of reimbursements on certain medicines , provided for in the 2025 welfare budget plan, thus accepting another of the demands imposed by the Rassemblement National to avoid bringing down the executive. And in recent days, he had already met one of the main requests of the Le Pen party, renouncing the increase in the tax on electricity provided for in the budget plan.
But that wasn't enough: in a France worn out by political conflict, the RN president, Jordan Bardella, had confirmed that "barring a last-minute miracle" the far-right party will vote together with the left-wing opposition. "Things were clear," Le Pen reiterated today. "Michel Barnier did not want to respond to the requests of the 11 million voters of the Rassemblement National. We will vote for the motions of censure and first of all for our own."
(Online Union)