Political Turmoil in France: Another PM Faces Ouster Amid Deepening Deadlock

Sat Sep 13 2025 14:34:03 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

With a vote of confidence looming for Prime Minister François Bayrou, France grapples with years of political stagnation and rising dissatisfaction among voters. Observers warn that his potential ousting will likely not ease the country's legislative gridlock.

As France's Prime Minister François Bayrou faces a confidence vote, the nation's political landscape appears more deadlocked than ever. Despite his urgent call for fiscal reforms, many believe his removal will not resolve the ongoing dysfunction in parliament. The growing support for right-wing movements complicates the prospects for a stable government amid rising national debt and public discontent.

France's parliament – deadlocked for a year and more poisonously divided than it has been in decades – looks set to throw out yet another prime minister on Monday.

But the acute sense of drama surrounding this latest vote of confidence inside Paris's Assemblée Nationale is counterbalanced by a despondent consensus that the almost inevitable removal of 74-year-old François Bayrou, after nine relatively ineffectual months in office, will do nothing to break France's political stalemate.

It's a disaster. The situation is absolutely blocked, veteran political commentator Bruno Cautrès told the BBC.

Marine Le Pen, parliamentary leader of the hard-right National Rally party, accused Bayrou of committing political suicide.

The prime minister, a consensus-seeking figure from south-west France with a tendency to frown and to bluster, initiated Monday's surprise vote himself, seeking, as he explained it, to shock politicians into agreeing on a way to tackle the country's looming debt crisis.

Describing France's spiralling national debt as a terribly dangerous period... a time of hesitation and turmoil, Bayrou warned there was a high risk of disorder and chaos if parliament failed to back his austerity budget with its aim to slash government spending by €44bn (£38bn).

Bayrou says young people will be saddled with years of debt payments for the sake of the comfort of boomers, if France fails to tackle a national debt of 114% of its annual economic output.

However, Bayrou's gamble – variously characterised as a kamikaze gesture and an attempt to end his political career with a heroic act of self-sacrifice – looks almost certain to end in failure later on Monday.

At the heart of this crisis is President Emmanuel Macron's widely derided decision to call a snap parliamentary election in June 2024, which did not bring clarity but rather left Macron with a weakened minority centrist government amid rising political extremism.

Far from the parliamentary power struggles, sentiments among the populace appear to be shifting towards the right. National Rally leader Jordan Bardella is gaining traction, espousing calls for cutting taxes and limiting immigration.

As the situation continues to develop, speculation arises about Macron's next moves, with rising tensions hinting at possible street protests and a growing grassroots movement advocating for change.