By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
PARIS (Worthy News) – French President Emmanuel Macron will address the nation on Thursday after the government lost a no-confidence vote, Worthy News learned.
Michel Barnier, 73, became France’s shortest-serving prime minister since the 1958 founding of the Fifth Republic, its current republican system of government.
He was ousted when the far-right opposition National Rally of Marine Le Pen joined leftist parties to bring down the government.
The vote was sparked by Barnier’s decision to use a constitutional mechanism called Article 49.3, which enables legislation to be adopted without a vote but opens the door to no-confidence motions.
He made the move after a last-minute concession was insufficient to win support from the influential far-right National Rally (RN) for his budget plans.
Yet the development risked further unsettling investors, who have already pushed up France’s borrowing costs beyond those of countries like Spain and Greece.
France now has a caretaker government, and President Macron must appoint a new prime minister who, analysts say, faces the same political turmoil and divided parliament as Barnier.
BARNIER BACK?
In theory, Macron could reappoint Barnier, who had been in power since September.
Yet Barnier did appear to rule himself out on Tuesday evening. “I want to serve,” he told media. “But what does it mean if I fall tomorrow and the day after you find me back here as if nothing had happened?”
Bernard Cazeneuve, 61, a former French prime minister and interior minister under Socialist President Francois Hollande, is among those being named as possible successors.
Already considered a possible prime minister this summer, observers say picking him could help Macron fracture the left-wing bloc by capitalizing on Cazeneuve’s ties to his former party.
Sébastien Lecornu, 38, is also mentioned. He is seen as a skilled politician who, in 2022, became the youngest defense minister since the French Revolution. “He’s a Macron loyalist who’s originally from the center-right Republicans party,” commented Bloomberg News agency.
Additionally, François Bayrou, 73, a veteran centrist leading the MoDem party and a key ally for Macron in parliament, is viewed as a possible prime minister. Currently the high commissioner for government planning, Bayrou supports proportional representation in parliamentary elections, which the National Rally has also requested.
Jean Castex, 59, a former prime minister under Macron known for his southern French accent and management skills, is another potential contender for the prime minister’s job. He heads the RATP, the state-owned company operating the Paris metro.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
The Trump administration has prevented more than $1 billion in attempted federal student-loan fraud this year after reinstating strict identity-verification requirements that officials say were weakened under the Biden administration.
The Trump administration is preparing to appoint an American two-star general to command the newly formed International Stabilization Force (ISF) in Gaza, according to a report published Thursday by Axios citing U.S. and Israeli officials.
The man accused of assassinating born-again Christian activist Charlie Kirk, the founder of the Turning Point USA movement, was to make his first in-person court appearance Thursday, nearly three months after he was taken into custody.
The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday overwhelmingly advanced the fiscal year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), approving nearly $900 billion in defense spending and a broad slate of U.S.-Israel security initiatives. The bipartisan vote was 312-112, sending the legislation to the Senate, where it is expected to pass.
Growing frictions between the United States and its European allies emerged Thursday after tense conversations over how to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War Two, the ongoing war in Ukraine.
European Union health authorities have warned that “changing diets and an aging population” may contribute to a rise in serious and sometimes deadly Listeria infections across the continent.
US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the long-anticipated announcement of the Gaza “Board of Peace” will take place early next year, marking a delay from earlier expectations that the rollout would occur before Christmas.