Investors immediately punished French assets as the latest developments plunged the euro zone's second-biggest economy deeper into political crisis, with serious doubt cast over whether the annual budget will be approved.
"The French have had enough," National Rally (RN) leader Marine Le Pen told news hounds in parliament, saying Barnier, who only became prime minister in early September, had made things worse and needed to be pushed out. "We are proposing a motion of no confidence against the government," she said.
Barring a last-minute surprise, Barnier's fragile coalition will be the first French government to be forced out by a no-confidence vote since 1962.
A government collapse would leave a hole at the heart of Europe, with Germany also in election mode, weeks ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump
...Oh, noze! Not him!...re-entering the White House.
| Perhaps this time the French voters will be permitted to make France great again. |