Headlines

• Prime Minister Francois Bayrou was ousted with 364 votes against and 194 in his favour.

Paris, Sep.8 (DPnet).– France's parliament brought down the government on Monday over its plans to tame the ballooning national debt, deepening a political crisis that is weakening the euro zone's second-largest economy.

“In line with Article 50 of the constitution, the prime minister must submit the resignation of his government,” said speaker Yael Braun-Pivet after the vote.

Bayrou told the National Assembly: “The biggest risk was not to take one, to let things continue without anything changing… and have business as usual.”

Describing the debt pile as “life-threatening” for France, Bayrou said his government had put forward a plan so that the country could “in a few years’ time escape the inexorable tide of debt that is submerging it.”

There is no obvious successor in line for Francois Bayrou, the 5th PM under Macron since 2022; a poll shows that 64% of the French want the president to resign rather than name a new premier.

However, the French presidency said in a statement that Macron “took note” of the outcome and said he would name a new premier “in the next days,” ending any remaining speculation that the president could instead call snap elections.

The 2027 presidential election, meanwhile, remains wide open, with analysts predicting the French far-right will have its best-ever chance of winning. Cheered by her MPs, the National Rally leader, Marine Le Pen, urged Macron to call snap legislative elections, saying holding the polls is “not an option but an obligation.”