France plunged into political chaos on Monday as its National Assembly voted to oust Prime Minister François Bayrou, delivering a crushing 364–194 defeat that topples Macron’s third PM in under two years and leaves the country without a government amid mounting debt and economic unrest.
Bayrou’s fall comes after he attempted to push through a €44 billion austerity package — slashing public spending, freezing budgets, and scrapping national holidays. The backlash was swift and decisive: lawmakers pulled the plug, and now France faces yet another leadership vacuum.
President Emmanuel Macron is expected to appoint a new prime minister in the coming days — but insiders say he has no good options left. The opposition has already signaled that any centrist nominee will be dead on arrival.
And while the National Rally — currently the largest party in parliament — would likely dominate any fresh election, Macron knows that outcome would all but guarantee his own political irrelevance.
Marine Le Pen, the National Rally’s party’s longtime leader and a top contender for the presidency, was banned from running for public office back in April. A court convicted her of misusing European Union funds — a charge she has fiercely denied, calling the trial a politically motivated hit job.
The court handed down a four-year prison sentence (two suspended), and crucially, a five-year ban from holding office, a move that knocked Le Pen out of the 2027 race unless a rapid appeal overturns the decision.
Critics blasted the ruling as part of a broader pattern of “lawfare” — the weaponization of legal systems to eliminate populist challengers.
Former President Donald Trump called the case “a witch hunt,” comparing it to the legal barrage he’s faced in the U.S. “They got her on a bookkeeping error,” Trump said. “It’s the same corrupt playbook.”
Tech mogul Elon Musk echoed the sentiment: “Free Le Pen.”
With France’s political establishment collapsing from within and its most popular opposition leader barred from taking power, the country stands at a crossroads.
Leftist unions are already planning mass protests this week while investors are bailing. And talk of another snap election looms — one that could hand the Right even more seats, but leave Macron unable to govern.
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