PARIS — French Prime Minister François Bayrou is planning to put his job on the line four times this week as he attempts to enact a long-overdue budget for 2025.
The audacious gambit began Monday, when Bayrou pushed through part of the budget using a constitutional maneuver that allows the government to pass legislation without a vote, but that in turn allows opposition lawmakers to put forward no-confidence motions.
Bayrou triggered the measure, Article 49.3 of the constitution, twice on Monday. The prime minister will employ the same maneuver twice more in the next week to pass all the remaining parts of the budget, according to a lawmaker from Bayrou’s camp. Opposition lawmakers will then have four separate opportunities to topple the government for a second time in less than two months, after having brought down former Prime Minister Michel Barnier in December over his spending plans.
Votes on the first two no-confidence motions are expected Wednesday.
Like Barnier, the centrist Bayrou is attempting to pass a slimmed-down budget aimed at cutting France’s massive deficit, although the current premier’s plans are less aggressive than those of his conservative predecessor.
But while Barnier had targeted the far-right National Rally as a potential partner for his minority government, Bayrou has been courting the center-left Socialist Party. Though the party has voiced its displeasure with the budget, it said in a statement on X that it would not vote for the no-confidence motion linked to Bayrou’s spending plans because “France needs a budget.”
However, the Socialists said they plan to put forward their own proposal to censure the government over what they believe is Bayrou’s refusal to uphold “republican values” — a shot at the prime minister over controversial comments he made on immigration last week.
That measure could still topple the government if enough lawmakers support it, but that depends on what the National Rally decides to do. The party has not yet announced its plans.
Though Le Pen and her troops are unlikely to vote for a no-confidence motion that criticizes Bayrou’s tough language on immigration, it’s not out of the question. The National Rally ended up voting for a measure criticizing the party as a means to take down Barnier’s government in December.
Should the National Rally vote for the separate motion of no confidence linked to the budget, Bayrou would need the entire Socialist Party to fall in line to keep his job — which is not a given. Last month, when Bayrou faced his first no-confidence motion, eight Socialist MPs broke ranks and voted to bring him down.
Anthony Lattier, Sarah Paillou and Victor Goury-Laffont contributed to this report.
French PM Bayrou braces for 4 no-confidence votes in a week
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