Another impasse over French budget

Francois Bayrou grimaces over the budget (Photo: flickr/paquierjacques)

The French government’s future hangs in the balance. Centrist prime minister Francois Bayrou is forcing his budget through without a parliamentary vote this week.

History is repeating itself. The move comes just two months after right winger Michel Barnier’s government collapsed after he tried to use the same constitutional mechanism. He was swiftly toppled in a no confidence motion.

Elections in July produced a stalemate with three major blocs dominating parliament—the left alliance NFP, the fascist RN and Macron’s centrist Ensemble alliance.

With no clear parliamentary majority, Bayrou is following in Barnier’s footsteps by using the authoritarian article 49.3 of the constitution. The left party LFI, led by Jean-Luc Melenchon, has said it will table a no confidence motion in Bayrou for next Wednesday.

The Communist Party and the Greens will back the no confidence motion, as they also oppose the budget that will slash spending by £42 billion.

The no confidence motion needs the backing of the centre left Socialist Party and the fascist RN to pass. But the Socialist Party is currently divided, as Bayrou has attempted to make concessions to some of its demands.

Some Socialist Party MPs are fearful of voting for an austerity budget. But others recognise the concessions they have won, such as a review of Macron’s unpopular pension reforms, and are fearful of more political instability. It reflects the deep cowardice of the Socialist Party—that it would even consider a budget that will result in huge spending cuts.

Marine Le Pen’s RN hasn’t officially declared its position. But one of its MPs, Jean-Philippe Tanguy, argued the budget is bad enough to be “worse than the absence of a budget”.

Bayrou is currently trying to walk a tightrope between both the SP and RN. The prime minister recently referred to migrants as “flooding” France, borrowing terminology previously used by the fascists. This led to the Socialist Party to break off talks with Bayrou last week—although they are still looking for concessions.

If the no confidence motion passes, the budget will be rejected and Bayrou will resign. Whatever happens, the manoeuvrings at the top aren’t a way forward for the left. The left must break from that method—and instead look to resistance in the streets and, crucially, the workplaces.