By Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief
PARIS (Worthy News) – French Prime Minister François Bayrou, 74, was to step down after losing a confidence vote on Monday over a controversial 44 billion euros (about $51.5 billion) austerity package, bringing his government to an end after only nine months.
The confidence motion was defeated by 364 votes to 194 in the National Assembly. It marks only the third time since the 1958 start of France’s Fifth Republic that a prime minister has been toppled by parliament. The previous cases occurred in 1962, when Prime Minister Georges Pompidou was ousted but quickly reinstated by President Charles de Gaulle, and in 1968, when Prime Minister Georges Pompidou again lost the assembly’s support during France’s student-led upheavals before being reappointed.
Bayrou, the country’s fourth prime minister in less than two years, faced mounting opposition over his plan to slash public spending and raise taxes in a bid to stabilize France’s debt-laden finances.
The package included sweeping reductions in public services and even proposals to cancel some public holidays. Supporters argued the measures were necessary to prevent France from breaching EU deficit rules, but critics warned they would deepen inequality and spark further social unrest.
The defeat piles pressure on President Emmanuel Macron, who must now nominate a successor capable of surviving in a deeply fractured parliament.
Macron, already weakened by years of political turbulence, will be forced to balance between centrist allies, a resurgent left-wing opposition, and a powerful far-right bloc led by Marine Le Pen’s National Rally.
Analysts warn that the political vacuum risks paralyzing decision-making in Europe’s second-largest economy, just as France faces sluggish growth, high debt, and widespread discontent over the cost of living.
The president could attempt to appoint another compromise figure, seek to form a broader coalition, or—if no governing majority proves viable—consider dissolving parliament and calling snap elections, a move fraught with risk given current polling.
For now, Bayrou’s resignation underscores what observers describe as “one of the deepest political crises in modern French history,” leaving questions over the durability of Macron’s presidency and France’s role in a turbulent European Union.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
Jerusalem will host a high-level trilateral summit on Monday as Israel, Greece, and Cyprus move to deepen security, energy, and strategic cooperation amid growing concern over Turkey’s expanding military posture in the eastern Mediterranean.
In an emotionally charged appeal, Israel’s opposition leader Yair Lapid urged Jews worldwide not to surrender to hatred after at least 15 people were killed and dozens injured in what officials and Jewish leaders described as one of the deadliest antisemitic attacks against Jews abroad in years.
The U.S. military carried out massive air and drone strikes against more than 70 Islamic State (ISIS) targets across central and eastern Syria, U.S. officials said, following a deadly December 13 attack on American personnel.
The president of war-torn Ukraine says the United States has proposed a format for peace talks that would place Ukraine and Russia at the same table — but he doubts such a meeting would bring real progress.
Budget watchdogs are sounding the alarm as the U.S. hit an unfortunate fiscal milestone in fiscal year 2025: government spending on debt interest payments alone topped $1 trillion this year.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ action to bar “sex-rejecting” transgender procedures for minors has met with approval from groups that aim to protect children from harmful ideology, with some calling the move “long overdue,” stating that taxpayers should not be forced to pay for procedures that lack proven benefits.
After hours of tense negotiations, European Union leaders agreed to provide Ukraine with a 90 billion euro loan (about $100 billion) to meet the wartorn nation’s urgent financial needs. However, they failed to reach a consensus on whether the loan should be secured using Russia’s frozen assets held in Europe.