The government in France has fallen. Emmanuel Macron left a trap on himself
Finding by Emmanuel Macron an evacuation path from the political and economic crisis embraceing France now seems almost impossible. On Monday, his key ally, Prime Minister Francois Bayrou, was canceled In a brutal vote on a vote of trust, in which 364 legislators voted against him, and only 194 supported him.
Macrona's office immediately announced that in the “next few days” he would decide to appoint the fifth premiere of the country in less than two years, but There are serious doubts as to whether the new candidate will be more effective than Bayrou In pushing budget cuts in the amount of tens of billions of euros, necessary to save the second largest EU economy before the growing debt crisis.
Macron is now on the fire line of public opinion. On September 10, public services may be suspended, and on September 18, trade unions planned mass protests. The president's popularity has dropped to the lowest level in historyand the polls show that it is more unpopular today than in the peak period of yellow protests in 2018 and 2019, one of the most serious crises of his term.
Macron – forever convinced of his ability to unscrew from the worst tangle like Houdini – He is still sticking to an agreement with a moderate left, headquarters and a conservative party Republicansto create a minority government that could finally reach an agreement on the budget.
The president is helpless towards his own country, who, more and more indicates, can no longer be ruled. The scale of the Monday defeat of Bayrou in parliament and signals appearing from the deputies already suggest that His efforts are doomed to failure.
“We will have to change the president”
During the day full of dramatic tension in the National Assembly, the opposition parties accused Macron of the fact that it was responsible for the impasse that enveloped France. – There is only one person responsible for the crisis, for fiasco and instability. This is the president of the Republic – said Boris Vallaud, leader of the socialist faction in parliament.
Boris Vallaud's speech during the election campaign. Paris, June 20, 2024
After voting, many politicians called Macron to resign. – The president does not want to change his policy? Well, we will have to change the president – said Mathilde Panot, the parliamentary head of the extremely left -wing party France Imperial.
Macron faces a serious challenge, which is to maintain unity in the political center, while the extreme right -wing national union – the party leading in the polls – and the extreme left conduct an anti -establise campaign, threatening to overthrow every future government that will reduce public expenditure.
Centrum consolidation is difficult because the centrolevil socialists and center -right Republicans basically they do not agree on the goals of economic policydespite the growing fears that the inability of France to organize its budget can eventually charge EU finances.
Left-wing non-aggression pact?
In his final speech before the National Assembly, Bayrou warned against the complacency of the depth of the French financial mess, saying that The nation suffers from the “life -threatening” level of debt.
Prime Minister Francois Bayrou during the discussion about the vote of trust. Paris, September 8, 2025
“You have the power to dismiss the government, but not to erase reality,” said the prime minister. But the opposition leaders began to imagine the scripts after its fall very quickly. By sensing a chance for the left, socialist Vallaud called on the liberal President Macron to “fulfillment of your duty” and appointing the prime minister of their ranks. “We're ready, come for us,” he said.
Vallaud praised the “different path” for France, which would include what he described as more fair tax policy And he said that socialists would withdraw from the dismissal of two days off proposed by Bayrou.
On Monday evening, various types of scenarios with the participation of a socialist party appeared. They included a great coalition between conservatives and socialists (which is the least likely) and a non -aggression pact in which socialists would refrain from overthrowing the center -right government, managed by a leftist centrician, in exchange for budget concessions. A similar agreement with republicans is also discussed, in which the latter would refrain from overthrowing the leftist government in exchange for concessions on the budget.
“Parliament solution will not be an option but an obligation”
Theoretically, a government supported by both socialists and republicans would have broader support in parliament than the exaggerating center -right Bayrou government. But why socialists and Republicans – usually quarrelsome – would work? There is a shadow of a chance that they will see the meaning of the compromise now to keep their places in parliament, instead of pushing France into greater chaos and risk their loss in early elections.
In fact, however, the risk of failure is high. Laurent Wauquiez, the leader of the Parliamentary Republican fraction, warned on Monday that his party did not precede the socialist government that would be too much inspired by others, More radical leftist parties with which socialists competed in last year's elections as part of a wide coalition called the New People's Front.
“We would never accept the wicked political platform of the new People's Front,” Wauquiez said. – This, of course, applies to every socialist government that realizes the ideas of the new folk front.
In addition, in connection with local elections scheduled for March 2026, No opposition party will really want to ally with the president surrounded by an aura of decline. And even if the highest management of the center parties agree to cooperate with the budget, there is no guarantee that a number of legislators will follow in their footsteps.
Let's take a vote in the Bayrou case. On Monday, Republicans were clearly divided in voting on a vote of distrust. 27 voted for Bayrou's support, and 13 – against, despite the calls of the Republican leader and interior minister Bruno Retailleau to support the government.
Marine Le Pen from the National Union during the discussion about the vote of trust for Francois Bayrou. Paris, September 8, 2025
The leader of the extreme right Marine Le Pen also questioned Macron's ability to maintain the unity of the center and bringing an agreement on the budget of any left-right alliance. In her opinion, the only scenario is to write elections. “Parliament solution will not be an option, but a duty,” she said.
However, writing elections would probably not work much when it comes to healing divisions at the paralyzing national impasse center.
