French National Assembly Topples Government With 331 Votes in First Successful No-Confidence Motion Since 1962
France's National Assembly in Paris voted 331 in favor on the evening of December 4 to adopt a motion of no confidence in the government of French Prime Minister Michel Barnier, toppling his government. It was the first time the National Assembly had passed a no-confidence motion since the government of Georges Pompidou was brought down in 1962, and the Barnier government became the shortest-lived government in the history of the French Fifth Republic.
The motion was tabled by 185 deputies of the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) alliance. Announcing the result, National Assembly President Yaël Braun-Pivet said the 331 votes exceeded the required majority of 288 (the Assembly then had 574 seated members). Votes in favor came from the National Rally (RN) with 123, La France Insoumise (LFI) with 71, the Socialists with 65, the Ecologists with 38, the Democratic and Republican Left group with 16 and the UDR with 16, plus one vote from the LIOT group and one non-attached deputy. A separate motion filed by the National Rally was not put to a vote once the first motion had passed.
The trigger came two days earlier: on December 2, Barnier invoked Article 49.3 of the French Constitution to adopt the 2025 social security financing bill without a vote, prompting both the left and the far right to file no-confidence motions. Under Article 50 of the Constitution, once a motion of censure is adopted the prime minister must tender the government's resignation to the president, and the rejected social security financing bill falls with the government.
Barnier had been appointed prime minister by French President Emmanuel Macron on September 5, 2024. His minority government held only about a third of the National Assembly's 577 seats and fell roughly three months after taking office. Following the vote, Barnier was required to submit his resignation to Macron, with a new prime minister to be appointed by the president. (Source: French National Assembly)
Source: French National Assembly
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：法国国民议会所在地巴黎波旁宫（Palais Bourbon）正面。DXR 摄并释入公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Front facade of the Palais Bourbon in Paris, seat of the French National Assembly. Photo by DXR, released into the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
