PARIS, July 15. /TASS/. Mathilde Panot, of the parliament faction of the France Unbowed (LFI), has promised to put to vote the question of confidence in the government of Francois Bayrou in the National Assembly (lower house) of the French parliament over their plan to reduce public spending.
"Bayrou declares a social war: the cancellation of two public holidays, the refusal to replace every third civil servant, the cancellation of reimbursement for medicines, the encroachment on unemployment insurance, sick leave, and privatization. We will never agree that people should pay for gifts to the richest, exposing the country to the threat of recession. We will put forward a vote of no confidence in this ill-fated policy!" the deputy wrote on X.
Fabien Roussel, the national secretary of the French Communist Party, called the prime minister's plan an "organized robbery" and declared the need to "take new Bastilles," drawing an analogy with the event that marked the beginning of the Great French Revolution of 1789. The French Socialist and Environmental Parties (representing the left camp) have not yet made a direct call for government resignation, despite the harsh criticism of the prime minister.
Bayrou's government has already survived eight votes of confidence initiated by leftist politicians and did not find support from the right-wing National Rally party (123 out of 577 seats in parliament). Now the plan to reduce government spending has been criticized by the head of the parliamentary faction of the National Rally Marine Le Pen, who threatened the prime minister with a vote of no confidence if he did not "change his approach." If supported by her faction, the likelihood of the cabinet's resignation will increase significantly. According to the newspaper Le Figaro, a vote on this issue may take place in September.
The French prime minister earlier presented a plan designed to reduce the budget deficit and public debt, which stands at 3.3 trillion euros (about 114% of GDP). In total, the government expects to save 43.8 billion euros in 2026 to limit the budget deficit to 4.6% of GDP (5.8% in 2024). Bayrou noted that he initially planned to reduce costs by 40 billion euros, but had to raise the bar due to the desire to increase defense spending, which in 2026 will increase by 3.5 billion euros compared to the original plan (this expenditure item is not subject to reduction).