French government risks falling in no-confidence vote

France's Prime Minister Michel Barnier receives makeup touch-ups prior to a televised interview broadcast on the evening news on French TV channels TF1 and France 2, at Hotel Matignon in Paris, on Dec. 3, 2024.

France's government on Wednesday faces no-confidence votes that could spell the end of the short-lived administration of Prime Minister Michel Barnier, plunging the country into uncharted waters of political chaos.

The toppling of the Barnier government after just three months in office would present President Emmanuel Macron with an unenviable dilemma over how to move forward and whom to appoint in his place.

The National Assembly is due to debate two motions brought by the hard-left and far-right in a standoff with Barnier over the budget, which saw the premier force through the social security budget without a vote.

The far-right National Rally (RN) of three-time presidential candidate Marine Le Pen is expected to vote for the motion put forward by the left, giving it enough numbers to pass.

Asked on French television if there was a chance his government could survive Wednesday's vote, Barnier replied: "I want this and it is possible. It depends on the MPs...

"I think it is possible that there is this reflex of responsibility where—beyond political differences, divergences, the normal contradictions in a democracy—we tell ourselves that there is a higher interest," he said.

But most analysts believe the government is doomed with the far-right teaming up with the left in an unholy alliance.

— 'Political fiction' —

The turmoil follows snap elections called by Macron in the summer, which aimed, without success, to halt the march of the far right, and left no party or faction in...