PRESIDENT Emmanuel Macron gave his support to Prime Minister François Bayrou at a cabinet meeting yesterday, as France is bracing for fresh political turmoil after Bayrou asked for a confidence vote on his debt-cutting plan to be held on September 8th, with opposition parties vowing to oust him.
The move came as calls mounted for a nationwide shutdown and mass anti-austerity protests on September 10th.
On Monday, Bayrou failed to secure support for his unpopular debt-reduction plan. A rejected confidence vote left both his government and the country’s fragile finances under greater strain, adding to the political uncertainty.
France’s blue chip CAC40 index was down 1.5% on Tuesday, having fallen 1.6% late on Monday. Banking giants BNP Paribas and Societe Generale slid more than 6% each.
Meanwhile, 10-year French government bond yields briefly rose to 3.53%, the highest since March, before steadying at 3.50%.
At 114 per cent of GDP, France’s debt is a threat to the country’s financial stability, analysts say.
Bayrou’s proposal was roundly rejected by opposition parties, who said they would relish the opportunity to cut short his minority government’s time in office.
France’s embattled prime minister stunned the country on Monday, announcing he had asked President Emmanuel Macron to convene an extraordinary session of parliament on September 8th.
Bayrou on Tuesday said lawmakers must now choose between ‘chaos’ and ‘responsibility’ and urged the French to pressure their representatives to make a prudent choice ahead of September 8th.
‘I am not asking anyone to change his mind but one can think it over,’ Bayrou later told journalists.
If Bayrou falls, Macron could dissolve parliament and hold fresh legislative elections, a move he has previously rejected, or instal a new government.
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, who leads the conservative Republicans, said it would be ‘irresponsible’ and ‘against France’s interests’ to vote for the government to fall.
The Socialists, whose vote will be crucial, said they would vote against Bayrou.
‘We need a different prime minister and, above all, a different policy,’ lead Socialist lawmaker Boris Vallaud wrote on X.
The head of the hard-left France Unbowed Jean-Luc Melenchon, who has launched previous unsuccessful attempts to bring down Bayrou, suggested that Macron must resign if Bayrou, 74, loses this time.
‘Macron is chaos,’ Melenchon said on Tuesday, adding he would propose a motion of no confidence against the president in parliament, adding: ‘He must go.’
