A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
The French government could fall later today.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
That's if no-confidence motions brought by the far left and the far right get the votes needed to pass in the lower house of Parliament. The two extremes hold the largest voting blocks in the country's fragmented legislature. The prime minister, who has been in power less than three months, could become one of the shortest-lived in French history.
MARTÍNEZ: NPR's Eleanor Beardsley joins us now for more on what this means. Eleanor, what's going on in France?
ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: Well, A, Prime Minister Michel Barnier could be ousted, which means his government would fall. Could happen as soon as later today if the Parliament approves the no-confidence motions brought by the far left and far right. At issue is the 2025 budget, which attempts to address France's spiraling deficit. Barnier pushed it through Parliament this week using an emergency clause.
He didn't hold a vote because he doesn't have the votes, but he met with party heads to take into account their input. He said he made as many concessions as he could. He told the French on TV last night that it was the best deal possible.
MARTÍNEZ: OK. Now, how are the different coalitions responding?
BEARDSLEY: Well, the far-left France Unbowed party has been saying for weeks it would punish him if he used this clause to pass the bill. This leftist coalition hates the budget. They want to lower the minimum retirement age back down to 62. They also seem to want to blow up the system, say analysts, and they've even called for President Macron, who they accuse of acting like a monarch, to resign so new presidential elections can be held to end this crisis.
But Barnier thought he could succeed because Marine Le Pen, head of the far-right National Rally party, has been acting stateswoman-like and said she would stand by the government - until she changed her mind over the weekend. So now the extremes, who can't stand each other, are joining forces to bring down a more centrist prime minister.
MARTÍNEZ: OK. So then how did the French Parliament end up with two extremes in control?
BEARDSLEY: Well, many blame President Emmanuel Macron. You might remember that over the summer, he called surprise snap parliamentary elections when the far right did so well in EU Parliament elections. He said he wanted French voters to clarify things. It was a big gamble. He didn't have to do it, and he lost his relative majority. And a leftist coalition got the most votes in those elections, but no group has a majority.
The Parliament is basically split between three mutually detesting blocks, the far left, center and far right. And what Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said in Parliament yesterday sums up what many people feel. Let's listen.
(SOUNDBITE OF SPEECH)
BRUNO RETAILLEAU: (Speaking French).
BEARDSLEY: He said some on the extremes are playing out the destiny of France and the French people with a game of Russian roulette.
MARTÍNEZ: Wow. All right. So then what are the consequences, possibly?
BEARDSLEY: Well, if the prime minister and his government falls, President Macron will have to name someone else, and it took him three months to find the conciliatory Barnier, who, by the way, was the Brexit negotiator between Britain and the European Union. So Macron thought he would be able to make deals between French parliamentarians. Macron cannot try to change the makeup of the Parliament because he has to wait a year before calling another election.
It plunges France, the eurozone's second largest economy, into uncertainty and turmoil at crucial time with a war raging in Ukraine and President-elect Donald Trump about to take power.
MARTÍNEZ: And one more thing really quick. What has Macron said?
BEARDSLEY: Well, speaking from Saudi Arabia, he says he has confidence that Parliament will fulfill their responsibility to the nation, and he said he certainly won't resign.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. That's NPR's Eleanor Beardsley. Eleanor, thanks.
BEARDSLEY: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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