French govt collapses after Prime Minister Michel Barnier gets ousted in no-confidence vote

French Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s government lost a confidence vote in the National Assembly on Dec 4, raising concerns about the country's political crisis and the next year's budget.

Barnier is now obliged to present the resignation of his government, and the budget that led to his removal is no longer valid.

The 73-year-old Barnier’s centrist minority government was voted out by a total of 331 legislators in France’s 577-seat lower house of parliament just three months after he was appointed by President Emmanuel Macron.

This marks the first time the country's government has collapsed in a no-confidence vote since 1962.

Opposition parties introduced the motion after the former Brexit negotiator controversially bypassed a vote to push through his budget using special powers.

The development is likely to further deepen France's political instability, especially after snap elections in summer which didn't have a single majority group in parliament.

The vote on Dec 4 required MPs to either vote for the motion or abstain with 288 votes needed.

Before the voting took place, Barnier told the National Assembly that the country's financial problems would not be solved if he was voted out of office.

"We have reached a moment of truth, of responsibility," he said, adding that "we need to look at the realities of our debt".

Barnier is likely to stay on as caretaker prime minister while President Macron chooses his successor.

President Macron is expected to name a new prime minister soon to avoid the embarrassment of the country with no government, especially with US President-elect Donald Trump visiting Paris this weekend for the reopening of the Notre-Dame Cathedral.

However, with no parliamentary elections possible until July, the current Assembly deadlock—where no faction holds a working majority—is likely to persist.