French Prime Minister Michel Barnier has said it is possible he may survive a no-confidence vote on Wednesday which is all but certain to oust his minority government.
The motion was tabled by opposition parties after Barnier pushed through his contentious social security budget without a parliamentary vote on Monday.
Opposition lawmakers from the left and the far-right, including Marine Le Pen and her National Rally (RN) party, have vowed to topple Barnier, and have the numbers to do so.
In an interview with French media on Tuesday night, Barnier said the no-confidence vote could make “everything more difficult and serious … in economic and social terms”.
Regarding his own fate, he said: “It is difficult, but the stakes are not impossible.”
“It depends on the MPs. Each of whom has a responsibility to the French people, to the voters in his or her constituency, and also to France, which is going through a rather serious period,” Barnier said.
“I think that there will be this reflex of responsibility where, beyond the political differences, the divergences, the contradictions that are normal in a democracy, we say to ourselves that there is a higher interest,” he added.
Barnier also argued he had not been “given the runaround” by Le Pen during negotiations over the social security budget. The French PM had tried to appease the RN at the last minute by making concessions such as scrapping electricity price hikes, but it was not enough to prevent Le Pen’s party and a leftwing alliance tabling no-confidence motions.
(Euro News)
