French President Emmanuel Macron threw his weight behind the country’s prime minister, François Bayrou, who is facing a confidence vote against his government that he instigated.
Bayrou, facing widespread pushback against budget reforms that he said are vital to France’s financial future, said on Monday that he will call a vote of confidence for his government on Sept. 8 at the National Assembly. He told opposition factions on Tuesday that they have until then to decide “whether they are on the side of chaos or responsibility.”
Opposition parties see blood in the water, with a second prime minister possibly falling in less than a year following the last parliamentary election in 2024.
The French legislature is currently split into three warring factions — the left-wing opposition, the right-wing opposition, and Macron’s centrist coalition. The three groups’ inability to cooperate has stalled governance and left the government largely listless.
Polling groups, including Ifop, Elabe, and Toluna Harris Interactive, are now reporting that the majority of French citizens would prefer for Parliament to be dissolved entirely and a new snap election to be held, according to Reuters. Additionally, the Elabe and LCI polls showed that most respondents desired Macron to resign if Bayrou were ousted.
The right-wing National Rally, led by conservative Marine Le Pen, is poised to gain the most from a snap election, with steady growth in national polls.
The only person with the power to call such an election is Macron, who is being dragged away from his role in international affairs to deal with the domestic turmoil.
Élysée Palace spokeswoman Sophie Primas told reporters on Wednesday that Bayrou’s budget initiative has Macron’s “full support” and that the president is calling on all French lawmakers “to act responsibly.”
Macron’s endorsement might not make much of a difference. Bayrou is currently polling with a mere 18%, just below the similarly dreary 19% approval rating held by Macron, according to the French Institute of Public Opinion.
The results mark a rock bottom for any head of state since the Fifth Republic was established.
Bayrou has described his budget proposal, which would slash €43.8 billion in spending at the cost of reducing unemployment benefits and public holidays, as a bulwark against the “curse of over-indebtedness.”
FRENCH PRIME MINISTER GAMBLES GOVERNMENT COLLAPSE WITH CONFIDENCE VOTE AND BUDGET PROPOSAL
“An immediate danger hangs over us that we must face not tomorrow or the day after, but today, without any delay whatsoever,” Bayrou said on Monday. “Otherwise, we will have no future.”
French business leaders and economists have sounded the alarm that another change of government could have devastating effects on the economy as investors pull out from the unstable European power.