Michel Barnier has become the prime minister with the shortest tenure in the so-called Fifth Republic, after the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) alliance and the far-right National Assembly (RN) party joined forces to oust him during a no-confidence vote, reports Le Monde. 

Barnier's government was ousted by 331 votes in favor of the assessment motion. A majority of 288 votes was required.

The 73-year-old was prime minister for just 91 days, while his government, made up of centrist and right-wing ministers, served for just 74 days.

Barnier's government - the first to be ousted by a no-confidence motion in more than 60 years - was the target of two separate no-confidence votes on Monday after he used Article 49.3 of the constitution to bypass a parliamentary vote and bypass his social security to pass the disputed budget.

The overall budget proposed by the government planned for 60 billion euros of spending cuts in 2025 in an attempt to tame the country's spiraling public deficit (to 112% of gross domestic product) and deficit (to 6% of GDP), which largely go beyond the borders of the EU, pishvua Euronews. 

Barnier led a fragile minority government made up of centrist parties loyal to President Emmanuel Macron and the right-wing Les Républicains (LR) party from which he hails. But their alliance was informal and was 77 seats short of an absolute majority, with the RN, the largest party in the National Assembly with 124 seats, playing the role of policy maker.

Eleventh-hour concessions by Marine Le Pen, who leads the RN group in the lower house, on higher electricity taxes and lower drug charges failed to garner her support as Barnier refused to budge on pension de-indexation.

The four-time minister and two-time European commissioner warned in a televised interview on Tuesday evening that "the situation in the country is very difficult in social, economic, budgetary and financial terms" and that if the evaluation proposal passes "everything will be more difficult and everything will be more serious".

He called on other parties to "take their responsibilities seriously" and said those who vote to oust his government and therefore reject his proposed budget will have to answer for income tax rises that will affect 18 million households. of freezing pensions, but also of farmers, which should come into force in January 2026.

Both the extreme right and the left categorically reject responsibility for the political turmoil into which France has once again plunged.

Jordan Bardella, the 29-year-old leader of the RN, told public broadcaster France 3 on Wednesday that Macron was to blame for engineering the so-called therefore also the prime minister's office.

"I think uncertainty will come from this budget and I want to be able to protect the purchasing power of my countrymen (…) So, if a new government is appointed, we will sit around the table and continue with the budget." discussion very quickly," he added.

Socialist (PS) leader Olivier Faure also laid the blame on the president whom he accused of refusing to appoint a prime minister from the left. The NFP, of which the PS is a member, unexpectedly secured the largest number of seats in July, but failed to win a majority. However, Macron's camp has refused to work with the alliance because they consider the far-left France Non-Bending (LFI) party to be another member, just as radical as the RN.

"We are proposing the appointment of a leftist prime minister who will implement the priorities of the NFP, but with a constant concern for compromise," Fauré told Le Monde in an interview on Wednesday. "The NFP does not have an absolute majority and therefore we will have to find a majority, text by text.

The LFI is meanwhile calling for Macron to resign, which the president has dismissed as "political fiction".

Under the Constitution, Macron cannot call new parliamentary elections until next July. Therefore, any new government will have to include multiple parties.

Asked on Tuesday night if he would try to form a new government if his first collapsed, Barnier said: "What's the point if I collapse tomorrow, the day after tomorrow I'll be back here like nothing happened. "