The French political scene is getting super-tense as Michel Barnierʼs minority government faces a make-or-break moment: key budget votes could end its rule (with the first one happening today at 2pm GMT)
Marine Le Penʼs National Rally party isnt happy with the budget plans; theyʼve teamed up with left-wing groups to maybe kick out Barnierʼs team. The far-right leader made some non-negotiable demands but even after Barnier tried to make peace she wasnt satisfied
The next few weeks are super-important for Franceʼs political future:
- Dec-4th: main budget vote
- Dec-18th: final budget decision
- Dec-20th: last day to get everything done
If Barnierʼs team gets pushed out Macron will need to find a new prime-minister — which could take months. Meanwhile a temp government would handle day-to-day stuff but theyʼd have limited power to do big things
The constitution has some back-up plans to avoid money problems but its not perfect. If no budget passes by mid-december‚ they might need to use last years numbers which would mess-up inflation adjustments for like 17 million people
The whole mess cant really end until next summer because thats when they can have new elections — one year after the last ones. Even though some people want President Macron to quit he says heʼll stay until 2027