France\u2019s embattled prime minister looks likely to be ousted and his government toppled next month in a high-stakes confidence vote that could plunge the EU\u2019s second-biggest economy into even deeper political crisis.<\/p>\n
Fran\u00e7ois Bayrou said on Monday that he would seek parliamentary backing for his unpopular plans to shore up France\u2019s ailing public finances on 8 September, asking deputies to \u201cconfirm the scale\u201d of spending cuts he says are needed to save \u20ac44bn (\u00a338bn) a year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe face an immediate danger, which we must tackle \u2026 otherwise we have no future,\u201d he said of the country\u2019s huge debt burden, adding that the vote would focus on whether MPs agreed with the gravity of the danger, and choose the path to fix it.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cThere are moments \u2026 when only a calculated risk can allow you to escape a more serious risk. It is a matter of the survival of our state, the image of our nation, and each and every family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bayrou said France was going through a \u201cdecisive moment\u201d. If the government secured a majority in the confidence vote, it would be confirmed, he said, but \u201cif it does not have a majority, the government will fall\u201d.<\/p>\n
Early reactions suggested the centrist prime minister could well lose his gamble, toppling a government that was formed only last December after the premature collapse of his predecessor Michel Barnier\u2019s even shorter-lived administration.<\/p>\n
The leader of the opposition party National Rally (RN), Jordan Bardella, said his far-right party would \u201cnever vote in favour of a government whose decisions are making the French suffer\u201d. Bayrou had in effect announced \u201cthe end of his government\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n
Manuel Bompard of the radical left Unbowed France (LFI) said: \u201cThe chips are down, and it is up to everyone to stake out their position clearly.\u201d His party\u2019s deputies \u201cwill vote on 8 September to bring down the government\u201d, Bompard said.<\/p>\n
The Green party leader, Marine Tondelier, said on social media her parliamentary group would also vote against the government, as did the Communist party (PCF). Tondelier said Bayrou\u2019s announcement amounted \u201cde facto to a resignation\u201d.<\/p>\n
Olivier Faure, the leader of the centre-left Socialist party (PS), also said it would vote against the government. Bayrou had \u201cchosen to go\u201d, Faure said, adding that it was \u201cunimaginable\u201d that PS or any other opposition party would vote for him.<\/p>\n
Bayrou acknowledged that the vote was a gamble. \u201cYes, it\u2019s risky \u2013 but it\u2019s even riskier not to do anything,\u201d he told a press conference. France\u2019s budget deficit hit 5.8% of GDP last year, nearly double the official EU limit of 3%.<\/p>\n
Opposition leaders said that if the government did fall, they would demand the dissolution of parliament and new elections. Bardella said: \u201cOur fellow citizens are waiting for a change and a return to the ballot box: we are ready.\u201d<\/p>\n
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