The former Prime Minister of France, François Bayrou, has resigned after a devastating loss in the confidence vote on Sept. 8. 364 out of 573 lawmakers voted against his government, forcing him to step down.
It is now up to President Emmanuel Macron to appoint a new Prime Minister, the fourth in 12 months.
The root of this collapse lies in President Macron’s decision to dissolve the National Assembly in June 2024.
“This produced a splintered legislature with no dominant political bloc in power for the first time in France’s modern republic,” CBCNews says.
Without cooperation and a working majority, these minority governments survive on the whim of opposing political sides that do not have enough seats to govern themselves. Still, they can, if they choose to team up, topple Macron’s choices.
This led to the confidence vote called by Bayrou in a last-ditch effort to regain control of the failing government. This backfired as left-wing and far-right legislators seized the opportunity to bring him down, seeking to increase pressure on Macron.
This, however, is not the sole cause for the country’s collapse, as its debt is in the trillions. According to CBCNews, by the end of the first quarter of 2025, France’s public debt stood at 3.346 trillion euros (about 3.9 trillion U.S. dollars).
When Bayrou resigned, he expressed that his leaving would not affect the state of the country.
“You have the power to bring down the government, but you do not have the power to erase reality,” he told lawmakers.
Where does France go from here?
Macron appointed Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu as Bayrou’s replacement on Sept. 9. However, the pressure on Macron is rising after five failed Prime Ministers.
Thus, Macron is left in a pickle between the far left, who call for his resignation, and the far right, who demand an earlier snap election. Both the mainstream left and right remain unable to reach any sort of agreement as a result.
Many French residents now assume that the far right will eventually take power, though few believe this would solve the country’s overarching issues.
According to CNNWorld, “The far left has called nationwide protests for Wednesday against austerity, under the banner ‘Bloquons tout’ (Let’s block everything), and vow to paralyze the country with roadblocks and civil disobedience.”
This follows a wave of protests across the country as many trade unions are planning another on Sept. 18, with strikes expected in hospitals and across rail services.
For now, it is unknown how the French government and Macron will proceed.
Dee Cohen is a senior who is majoring in English literature and minoring French.
