French govt likely to collapse as Bayrou calls confidence vote

Paris [France], August 27: The French government led by Prime Minister François Bayrou is on the verge of collapse after opposition parties across the political spectrum said they would not back him in a vote of confidence next month.
One day after Bayrou announced his intention to hold a vote of confidence on September 8 over his budgetary plans, his opponents on the left and from Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally said on Tuesday that they would not support the motion.
Bayrou has been leading a minority government since December, following President Emmanuel Macron's surprise decision to call snap parliamentary elections last year.
With France facing a serious budgetary shortfall, the centre-right government's plans for 2026 include savings of €43.8 billion ($51.1 billion), but the austerity measures have caused an uproar.
The Socialists, Greens, Communists and the hard-left France Unbowed party have all confirmed they will vote against Bayrou, amid mounting calls for a general strike on September 10 over the plans.
Bayrou last survived a vote of no confidence in July after National Rally refused to back a Socialist-led motion.
But the far-right party has said it will not save the prime minister this time.
A dissolution of the National Assembly and new elections following the confidence vote are conceivable. "The president does not want that, but it cannot be ruled out. Anything is possible," Bayrou was quoted by the TF1/LCI and BFMTV channels as saying.
Source: Qatar Tribune