The leftist New People’s Front (NFP) alliance, which won the most seats in the parliamentary elections, previously criticized Macron’s decision to appoint centrist Barnier as Prime Minister over his own candidate.
Nearby far-right National Rally (RN)he found Barnier’s budget – which included €60bn (£49bn) to cut the deficit – unacceptable.
Marine Le Pen, the RN leader, said the budget was “toxic for the French”.
On the eve of the vote, Barnier told the National Assembly that removing him from office would not solve the country’s financial problems.
“We have reached a moment of truth, of responsibility,” he said, adding that “we need to look at the reality of our debt.”
“I didn’t present almost exclusively complex measures because I wanted to.”
In an interview with French broadcaster TF1 on Wednesday, Le Pen said there was “no other solution” but to remove Barnier.
When asked about the prospects of the French president, she answered: “I am not asking for the resignation of Emmanuel Macron.”
Many of her allies, however, are increasingly openly hoping they can force him to resign. RN adviser Philippe Olivier told Le Monde that the president was “a fallen republican monarch who walks with his shirt stretched and a rope around his neck until the next dissolution (of parliament)”.
New parliamentary elections cannot be held until July, so the current impasse in the Assembly – where no group can hope for a working majority – will continue.
