PARIS — President Emmanuel Macron called on French lawmakers to set aside their personal ambition and reject a vote that would topple the government and throw the country into political turmoil.
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen and her National Rally party have vowed to support a no-confidence motion on Wednesday submitted by a left-wing coalition, a motion that will pass if backed by both groups.
The National Rally became the largest single party in the lower house of parliament in a June snap election, transforming Le Pen into Paris’ most influential power broker. But Macron expressed confidence that politicians would step back from the brink.
“The only question that politicians today need to ask themselves is how they can be useful to the country and to the French people,” Macron told reporters Tuesday during a trip to Saudi Arabia. “Not how they can be useful to their own ambitions or their own interests.”
The president said in Riyadh that for Le Pen’s party to support the no-confidence motion “would be a vote of unbearable cynicism,” adding that “I can’t believe that they’d vote for the” motion.
Lawmakers in Paris will begin debating the motions at 4 p.m. in Paris Wednesday, with the voting to start shortly thereafter.
Prime Minister Michel Barnier also spoke of the potential that the no-confidence motion wouldn’t pass.
“I think it’s possible there will be a reflex of responsibility,” Barnier said on French TV Tuesday. “I think that the country’s higher interest, the common good, the national interest, mean something.”
The political difficulties began after Macron called snap elections after getting trounced in European elections. That left the lower house split into three fiercely opposed blocs: a diminished center supporting the president, a leftist alliance and a strengthened far right led by Le Pen. With no coalition possible, Macron appointed Barnier prime minister in September with a core mission to get France’s messy finances in order.
Barnier used a constitutional mechanism Monday to force through an unpopular budget bill, leading the National Rally and the leftist coalition to call for the votes of no confidence. Le Pen moved forward with the motion even after Barnier submitted to nearly all of the National Rally’s demands to change the budget legislation.
If the government were to collapse on Wednesday, it would underscore the power acquired by Le Pen since Macron called the surprise election in June. It would also mark the shortest tenure for a premier since France’s Fifth Republic was founded in 1958.
The political chaos has driven bond investors to punish France’s sovereign debt relative to its peers, pushing borrowing costs at one point last week to match Greece’s and leading Barnier to warn of a “storm” in financial markets if he is dismissed from power.
Investors have fretted for months over France’s political difficulties, just as the government has been trying to push measures that will reduce its unwieldy deficit. The budget bill initially presented by Barnier’s government contained 60 billion euros ($63.1 billion) of tax increases and spending cuts that aimed for a sharp adjustment in the deficit to 5% of economic output in 2025 from an estimated 6.1% this year.
A government collapse so close to the end of the year would take France into uncharted territory. The outgoing administration, acting in a caretaker capacity, could use emergency laws to collect taxes and guarantee a minimal level of spending, but the economic and financial impact is hard to predict.
The current finance minister, Antoine Armand, warned earlier Tuesday that stopgap legislation would raise taxes for millions of households and block planned spending increases for some priorities, including security and farming.
If the government is voted down, ministers remain in place with a caretaker status to manage current affairs, potentially including the emergency legislation to avoid a shutdown. It would then be up to Macron to appoint a new prime minister, although there is no constitutional deadline for his decision.
The president, meantime, said he wouldn’t resign until his full term had ended. While the left has called on Macron to step down, he can’t be forced out of his job. The next presidential election is set for 2027 and Le Pen remains the front-runner, according to polls.
“I’ve been elected twice by the French people, and I’m extremely proud of that,” Macron said. “I’ll honor that trust with all my energy, right up to the last second, to be useful to the country.”
