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French Prime Minister François Bayrou is expected to be ousted in a confidence vote on Monday afternoon, plunging the eurozone's second-largest economy into a political crisis.
Opposition parties from the left to the far right have made it clear they will vote against the 74-year-old centrist, meaning he and his minority government will be ousted after just nine months in office.
The centrist President, Emmanuel Macron, is likely to face the challenge of appointing his third prime minister in a year, and his fifth since he began his second term in office in 2022.
As head of state with authority over foreign policy and national security, the president directly appoints a prime minister to run domestic affairs. But since Macron called early parliamentary elections last year, the National Assembly has been divided into three blocs: left, center and far right, with no absolute majority, creating a form of political deadlock and disagreement over the budget. That means there is no certainty that a new prime minister would be safe from a similarly swift dismissal.
Macron could also decide to call new early parliamentary elections, although he has said he is reluctant to do so.
Bayrou shocked even his centrist allies when he announced the surprise vote of confidence, saying he needed parliament's support for austerity measures to reduce public debt.
A long-time Macron ally, Bayrou was struggling to secure support for his unpopular plan for a 44 billion euro budget austerity program and an austerity program to reduce France's public debt. His budget proposals, including the abolition of two public holidays and a freeze on most welfare spending, were opposed across the political spectrum.
Bayrou will deliver a speech in parliament on Monday afternoon, where he will appeal for support and give his opinion on the state of the nation and the French public debt. This will be followed by speeches from the leaders of each parliamentary group, before a vote by lawmakers.
Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Rally parliamentary group, which plans to vote against Bayrou, said on Sunday: “This crisis was provoked and fueled by President Emmanuel Macron and all those who have served him. Today, because of them, France is the sick man of Europe.”
Le Pen, who was found guilty in March of embezzling European Parliament funds through a fake employment scam and banned from running for public office for five years, will learn on Monday the date of her appeal trial next year.
Left-wing lawmakers, who won the most seats in last year's parliamentary elections but fell short of an absolute majority, have said Macron should appoint a left-wing prime minister.
Bayrou would be the second prime minister to be ousted after snap elections: right-wing Michel Barnier was ousted after three months in December.
"Macron cannot go against the poll results for a third time," Marine Tondelier, head of the Green Party, told broadcaster BFM on Saturday, saying a left-wing nomination was the only solution.
But right-wing Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, head of Les Républicains, which had supported Bayrou's government, said at a party meeting on Sunday.
"There is no way we can accept a socialist prime minister," he added.
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