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Bayrou's confidence question this Monday will exacerbate France's political crisis

The opposition has called for elections in the hope that Bayrou will lose, and the left has announced that it will promote a motion of impeachment against Macron.

CHALONS-EN-CHAMPAGNE (France), 29/08/2025.- French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou speaks to the media at the Agriculture Fair in Chalons-en-Champagne, France, 29 August 2025. The fair runs from 29 August to 08 September 2025. (Francia) EFE/EPA/CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON
Bayrou, in a stock image. Photo: EFE

The French Government is in danger of collapse on Monday following a question of confidence promoted by Prime Minister François Bayrou, who decided to ask a question of confidence in judging his budget reduction plan, knowing that he has no guarantee of overcoming it.

ThePrime Minister, who has proposed a reduction of around EUR 44 billion , announced on 25 August that he would put his future at stake. According to the Prime Minister, the general rejection of the opposition and the social partners left him no choice.



Thus, both he and French President Emmanuel Macron have tried over the past two weeks to hold all parties accountable, warning that there is a "risk"to the stability ofthe state . The prime minister said the debt burden, 2024 around 113% of GDP, is unsustainable.

Bayrou admitted thathis accounts do not go beyond the question of confidence, that he did not have a majority in the National Assembly, and although he has held a round of meetings with all parties, he has made no progress. The ultra-right refused to support him, and the other big parliamentary bloc, the left, has been strongly criticised.

Bayrou, on the opposition side, has only managed to share a diagnosis of France's delicate economic situation, but his political bloc seems to be the only one to share his proposal.

In the Fifth Republic there have been 41 motions of confidence in France, the last in 2020, and none of them have caused the overthrow of the convening Government. A simple majority, more affirmative than negative votes, is enough to pass the vote, but except for surprise, the negative will prevail on Monday.

Early elections

Political instability is damaging Macron, and two-thirds of the citizens of the French state are calling for the president's resignation and for early presidential elections, according to a poll conducted by Odoxa-Backbone for thenewspaper Le Figaro .

The opposition has tried to focus on Macron, whom it holds responsible for the cuts proposed by Bayrou. The left has also announced that it will promote a motion to dismiss the president in the National Assembly.



Meanwhile, Macron boils down to the calendar, and shows no intention of leaving the Elysée prematurely. "I believe in democracy, citizens vote for a full term," he said in his recent media appearance. His term of office expires in 2027 .

Polls of these possible early elections do not yield good results to the "macronist" movement, as the National Union is a favorite of the far-right party, although candidate Marine Le Pen remains disqualified.

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