National Rally and Socialists did not back no-confidence motion tabled by hard-left France Unbowed
The French prime minister, François Bayrou, has survived an initial confidence vote in parliament called for by the hard left, after the far-right National Rally (RN) and centre-left Socialists did not back the motion against him.
On Wednesday, 128 lawmakers voted in favour of the first motion of no confidence, well short of the 289 votes needed.
Continue reading...Hardline agendas, especially on immigration, are copied by mainstream conservatives in vain effort to win back votes - but it’s not working
Far-right parties could become the largest force on the right in Europe within a decade, experts have said, as mainstream conservative parties look to copy their hardline agendas, especially on immigration, in a vain effort to win back votes.
Germany’s conservatives last week sparked fury when their leader, Friedrich Merz, the country’s likely next chancellor, broke a longstanding pledge by relying on far-right votes to adopt a non-binding motion urging a drastic immigration crackdown. The leader of Alternative für Deutschland, Alice Weidel, hailed “a historic day for Germany” as the Bundestag, for the first time in its history, passed a vote with the backing of her party, which is second in the polls weeks before this month’s elections.
Continue reading...Family seeks to show a united front as French minister condemns ‘shameful’ celebrations of his demise
The death of Jean-Marie Le Pen looked likely to reignite rivalries in his family over who is the rightful heir to the far-right political dynasty, as the French government condemned as “simply shameful” crowds of people who took to the streets to celebrate the politician’s demise.
Marine Le Pen, daughter of the co-founder and leader of the far-right National Front party, which she has rebranded as the anti-immigration National Rally, on Wednesday paid tribute to her father, who died the previous day at the age of 96.
Continue reading...Former paratrooper led National Front party for decades and courted controversy, being repeatedly fined for contesting crimes against humanity
Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of France’s far-right National Front party, who sent shock waves through the country when he made it to the second round of the presidential election in 2002, has died aged 96.
The former paratrooper, who led the party from 1972 to 2011, was repeatedly convicted over comments about the Holocaust, which he once dismissed as “merely a detail of history”.
Continue reading...Three-month-old government felled by combined vote from parties of left and far right over controversial budget
Boris Vallaud, the head of the centre-left Socialist party (PS) tells the prime minister that the no confidence motion is “first and foremost your failure: the failure of Michel Barnier”.
MPs elected thanks to the ‘republican front’ against the far right “were bound by only one promise, one loyalty, one commitment - not to give in to the far right,” Vallaud says, adding that Barnier “clearly found it more appropriate to speak to the far right than to the left. And we cannot resign ourselves to this.”
Continue reading...Minority coalition of PM Michel Barnier falls after three months, the shortest of any administration of France’s Fifth Republic
France has been plunged into political crisis after a no-confidence vote brought down the government, ending the beleaguered minority coalition of the rightwing prime minister Michel Barnier after only three months.
The no-confidence motion brought by an alliance of left-wing parties was supported by MPs from Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigration, far-right, National Rally. A total of 331 lawmakers — a clear majority — voted on Wednesday night to bring down the government.
Continue reading...Administration of Michel Barnier likely to fall after far-left and far-right opponents table motions
France is staring into the unknown as the minority government of the prime minister, Michel Barnier, faces near-certain defeat in a no-confidence vote that could dramatically intensify the political crisis in one of the EU’s key member states.
If the vote on Wednesday is carried, Barnier’s administration, which took office only in September, would be the first in France to be ousted with a motion of no confidence since 1962. Its fall, at the hands of the far-right and leftwing parties, would be a significant blow to Europe weeks before Donald Trump returns to the White House.
Continue reading...It seems Michel Barnier’s experience of negotiating Brexit with the British was no match for the bitter rivalry of French politics
When Emmanuel Macron welcomes world leaders to the reopening of Paris’s Notre Dame Cathedral this weekend, after fire damaged it five years ago, he might have hoped it would serve as a metaphor for people from all backgrounds coming together to prevent a hallowed edifice collapsing.
Instead, it is likely the French government itself will have fallen by Wednesday evening, with voters’ trust of politicians and the political process in charred ruins.
Continue reading...Minority government of prime minister faces near-certain defeat in a no-confidence vote that could spark crisis
The Libertés, indépendants, outre-mer et territoires (Liberties, Independents, Overseas and Territories, Liot) group, which has about two dozen elected members, will not vote for Wednesday’s censure motion (i.e. the no confidence motion over the budget).
“At this stage, none of the Liot MPs intend to vote for censure tomorrow,” Harold Huwart, the MP for Eure-et-Loir and spokesperson for the parliamentary group, was quoted as saying:
First of all, because the country is in a difficult moment, censorship is an act whose final consequences no one can measure. Voting for censorship is particularly irresponsible.
None of the deputies (of Liot) want to be associated with an act of destabilisation plotted by extremes who come together in a desperate attempt.
Let’s be clear: a motion of censure is not a coalition or a political agreement, it is nothing other than the expression of a disavowal of the policy and budgetary choices proposed by the Government.
Continue reading...PM Michel Barnier tells MPs they face ‘moment of truth’ after left and right lodge motions censuring government
The French government appears likely to fall this week after leftwing and far-right parties lodged motions of no confidence in response to the prime minister’s decision to push through a belt-tightening budget without a vote.
If passed by MPs, the motions, which will be put to a vote in the national assembly on Wednesday, will bring down the government and force Michel Barnier’s resignation after only two and a half months.
Continue reading...Michel Barnier makes concession over budget but may still face confidence vote
The French government has promised to scrap proposed tax increases on electricity as it scrambles to calm the far right and prevent a political crisis that could lead to the prime minister, Michel Barnier, being toppled in a confidence vote as early as next week.
“I’ve decided not to raise taxes on electricity,” Barnier told Le Figaro on Wednesday in a major concession to opposition parties who are threatening to bring down the unpopular government over its belt-tightening budget.
Continue reading...Request in embezzlement trial threatens to undermine National Rally’s efforts to polish image before 2027 polls
A Paris prosecutor has requested a five-year prison sentence and a five-year ban from public office for the far-right leader Marine Le Pen, at a trial in which she and 24 others are accused of embezzling EU funds.
The trial, which comes almost a decade after initial investigations started, threatens to undermine her National Rally (RN) party’s efforts to polish its image before the 2027 presidential election, which many believe she could win.
Continue reading...French far-right leader denies embezzling EU funds and compares European parliament to a ‘blob’
The French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has denied embezzling EU funds in a fake jobs scam when questioned in court for the first time, and used her appearance in the dock to attack the European parliament as a slow-moving, alien “blob”.
Le Pen is one of 27 members and employees of the party then known as the National Front (FN) who are on trial in Paris for allegedly using EU money to finance domestic political activities between 2006 and 2016.
Continue reading...French far-right leader and 24 others from National Rally party allegedly embezzled European parliament funds
The French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has gone on trial on charges of embezzling money from the European parliament, in a high-profile case that could endanger her presidential ambitions.
“We have not broken any rules,” the three-time presidential candidate of the far-right National Rally (RN) said before the start of the hearings in Paris, adding that she was in a “very calm” mood.
Continue reading...The bloc’s migration pact, finally agreed after a decade of talks, is already in peril as states outdo each other in efforts to get tough
In 2015, when more than 1.3 million people headed to Europe, mostly fleeing a brutal war in Syria, the response of Germany’s then chancellor, Angela Merkel, was to say “Wir schaffen das” (“We can manage this”), and open the country’s borders.
Less than a decade later, and faced with a flow of irregular arrivals less than 10% of what it was at the peak of the bloc’s migration crisis, EU capitals are increasingly saying, “No, we can’t”. Or, perhaps more accurately, “We won’t”.
Continue reading...Party spokesperson says new PM has ‘complex equation to solve’ and is unlikely to appoint ministers this week
The new French prime minister, Michel Barnier, has continued negotiations with potential ministers as he struggles to form a government to end the country’s political deadlock.
The veteran politician and former EU Brexit negotiator, appointed by the president, Emmanuel Macron, earlier this month, had promised to form a new administration this week after “listening to everybody”.
Continue reading...Olaf Scholz’s government says ‘acute dangers’ led to decision but some EU criticise ‘unacceptable’ decision
Germany has reintroduced temporary checks at all nine of its land borders in a move that has drawn criticism from several of its European partners but praise from the far right.
The embattled coalition government in Berlin said last week that checks already being carried out on its borders with Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland would be extended to France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands and Denmark.
Continue reading...The new national assembly meets this week, but what will happen if the three almost equal political blocs cannot agree on a prime minister?
One week after a snap general election that nobody won, and two weeks before it welcomes the world for the Olympic Games, France is still without a new prime minister or government and in political chaos.
As the French celebrate Bastille Day, the national 14 July holiday, the squabbling and stalemate between the three groupings that took the most seats but failed to secure a parliamentary majority continued with warnings that it could be two months before a solution is found.
Continue reading...Snap election brings three roughly equal blocs and unwillingness to compromise or form ‘unnatural alliances’
Sweden has been run by coalitions since the 1970s, Germany has not known single-party government since 1961 and in Italy, multiparty rule has been the norm since the early 1940s. The Netherlands was last run by just one party in 1879.
In France, however, political leaders from left and right have lined up to rule out a coalition government after Sunday’s snap election produced a parliament of three roughly equal blocs – none with a majority, and all with wildly differing platforms.
Continue reading...Surprise result ‘restores hope’ but politicians urged to heed warning after far-right National Rally falls short
Against the backdrop of Lyon’s emblematic Bartholdi fountain, much of which was sculpted by the artist behind New York’s Statue of Liberty, the same word was on seemingly everyone’s lips on Monday after the French election result: soulagement, or relief.
“It’s great that the far right didn’t win,” said Stéphane, 47. But he, like everyone else the Guardian spoke to, was swift to add a caveat given the political uncertainty that now looms over the nation. “It’s going to be a mess. They’re not going to agree on a lot of things.”
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