France’s minority government could fall in the coming hours, with parliament expected to back a no confidence vote.
It was called by the opposition parties after prime minister Michel Barnier used executive powers to force through a contentious austerity budget. President Emmanuel Macron has warned lawmakers not to throw the country into further turmoil.
CGTN’s Ross Cullen reports from Paris.
It was called by the opposition parties after prime minister Michel Barnier used executive powers to force through a contentious austerity budget. President Emmanuel Macron has warned lawmakers not to throw the country into further turmoil.
CGTN’s Ross Cullen reports from Paris.
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00:00Well, it's a tense atmosphere at the National Assembly at the moment, Jamie,
00:03the lower house of parliament here in France, and around 4 p.m. local time,
00:08the debates will begin on this no-confidence motion against Michel Barnier.
00:14This decisive vote, and if everybody votes according to their party political position
00:18and according to their intended vote that we've understood of the last couple of hours,
00:24then the Prime Minister is likely to fall. That vote will begin at 7 p.m. local time,
00:29and we should have the counting around 8 p.m., the results which will be
00:33very closely watched by Michel Barnier and also by Emmanuel Macron.
00:38President Macron away in Saudi Arabia, where do these events of the past week
00:45leave his presidency, given that he's supposed to be in office until 2027?
00:54Well, he wanted his Prime Minister to be in office for as long as possible,
00:57but he's rushing back from Saudi Arabia into a constitutional crisis now if the
01:02Prime Minister were to be voted out of his position by MPs, and that's what we do believe
01:07is likely to happen based on the numbers in the opposition ranks,
01:12both the left-wing and the far-right combined.
01:14I can tell you, Jamie, President Macron is currently in the air.
01:17He is due to land back in Paris around 7 p.m. to be located back at the Elysee Palace
01:22to watch those results coming in and maybe to be bearing in mind what he might do next
01:26if the parliamentarians believe that Michel Barnier needs to be removed from that post,
01:32because if he loses, the Prime Minister will send a letter of resignation to the President,
01:36who can choose to appoint someone new, but could also say to Michel Barnier,
01:40I don't accept your resignation, get back to Parliament and try to
01:44push this budget through once again, but with the support of lawmakers this time around.
01:49Certainly, he's been on this trip to Saudi Arabia, been booked in in the diary for three days,
01:54doing deals and visiting Riyadh and also the oasis town of Al-Ula,
01:58but he is now coming back into a crisis this evening.