France’s Macron will name a new PM after Bayrou’s ousting – SABC News


French President Emmanuel Macron will name a new Prime Minister “in the coming days,” the presidential palace said on Monday, after France’s Parliament voted on Monday to bring down the government over its plans to tame the ballooning national debt.

Francois Bayrou, who had called for a confidence vote, will tender his resignation Tuesday morning, the Prime Minister’s office told Reuters.

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 at a time of steep global tensions.

Macron, who is facing calls from the opposition to dissolve parliament and resignwill instead hunt for his fifth prime minister in less than two years. His office said he would appoint one in the next few days.

The next government’s most pressing task will be to pass a budget, the same challenge Bayrou faced when he took office. Securing the backing of a very divided parliament will be equally hard.

“You have the power to bring down the government, but you do not have the power to erase reality,” Bayrou told lawmakers before losing the confidence vote, with 364 votes against him and only 194 in his favour.

“Reality will remain relentless: expenses will continue to rise, and the burden of debt, already unbearable, will grow heavier and more costly,” he said.

Francois Bayrou, who took office as prime minister only nine months ago, will tender his resignation on Tuesday, his office said.

Bayrou had called the confidence vote to try to win parliamentary support for his strategy to lower a deficit that stands at nearly double the European Union’s 3% ceiling and to start tackling a debt pile equivalent to 114% of GDP.

But opposition parties were in little mood to rally behind his planned savings of 44 billion euros ($51.51 billion) in next year’s budget, with an election for Macron’s successor looming in 2027.

 

 



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