No-trust vote may topple French govt for first time in six decades – The Tribune

French lawmakers are all but certain to oust the government with a no-confidence motion on Wednesday, plunging the euro zone’s second-biggest economic power deeper into political turmoil.

Barring a last-minute surprise, Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s government will be France’s first to be forced out by a no-confidence vote in more than 60 years, at a time when the country is struggling to tame a massive budget deficit.

If the vote does indeed pass, President Emmanuel Macron plans to name a new prime minister very quickly, possibly even before the grand reopening of Paris’s Notre-Dame Cathedral at the weekend, according to sources in Macron’s camp, including parliamentary sources.

That would avoid leaving a hole at the heart of the European Union at a time when Germany is also weakened and in election mode, weeks before US President-elect Donald Trump re-enters the White House. But any new prime minister would face the same challenges as Barnier in getting bills, including the 2025 budget, adopted by a divided parliament. There can be no new parliamentary election before July.