French Prime Minister Bayrou Resigns After Austerity Agenda Rejected by Parliament
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Prime Minister François Bayrou resigns after his neoliberal budget cuts are rejected by parliament, exposing the deep unpopularity of Macron's austerity regime and sparking calls for real change.
French Prime Minister François Bayrou announced his resignation after losing a confidence vote in the National Assembly on Monday, a resounding rejection of his attempt to impose €44 billion in brutal budget cuts on working people. The vote, with 364 against and only 194 in favor, was a clear message from elected representatives refusing to rubber-stamp yet another attack on public services and social protections, all in the name of reducing France's deficit from 5.4% to 4.6% of GDP.
Bayrou, who served for nine months as the face of Macron's neoliberal agenda, will formally step down on Tuesday. President Emmanuel Macron, whose government has repeatedly ignored the will of the people, is now scrambling to appoint a new prime minister—his fifth in less than two years—highlighting the deep instability and crisis of legitimacy at the heart of the French political establishment.
The proposed cuts, including the outrageous elimination of two public holidays, were fiercely opposed by both the left and the far right, but it was the left-wing France Unbowed, led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, that gave voice to the people's anger: "Macron is now on the front line facing the people. He too must go." The far-right's Marine Le Pen opportunistically called for a snap election, but it is clear that the real alternative lies with a movement for social justice and democracy.
With France's public debt at 114% of GDP, investors and credit agencies are circling, demanding more austerity. The next government faces the immediate challenge of passing a budget in a fragmented parliament, but the people have shown they will not accept further attacks on their rights. Failure to pass a budget may lead to new elections, and opposition leaders are already demanding a break with the failed policies of the past and a new direction for France.
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