PARIS, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou on Monday lost a confidence vote in the French National Assembly over his budget plan seeking to save 44 billion euros (51.66 billion U.S. dollars) per year in government spending.
According to the results announced by the Speaker of the French National Assembly, Yael Braun-Pivet, only 194 were in favor of Bayrou out of 558 valid votes.
Speaking to the deputies Monday afternoon ahead of the vote, Bayrou stressed that France's excessive debt was "life-threatening" for the country.
According to official figures, France's public debt stood at 3,345.8 billion euros, or 114 percent of its GDP, at the end of the first quarter of 2025.
"Reality will remain inexorable, spending will continue to rise, and the burden of debt, already unbearable, will grow heavier and more costly," Bayrou said, urging the country to "act without delay."
"It only requires the mobilization and moderate efforts from everyone, provided we act in time," he stressed.
In a speech before the vote, Marine Le Pen, former presidential candidate of France's far-right wing party National Rally, called on President Emmanuel Macron to dissolve the National Assembly to hold new elections following Bayrou's defeat.
Following the confidence vote result, several parties voiced support for Bayrou's leaving. Mathilde Panot, president of the deputies of the hard-left party La France Insoumise (LFI), welcomed the outcome. "Mr. Bayrou wanted a moment of truth," she said. "He got it."
LFI's national coordinator, Manuel Bompard, said: "The fall of this government is a relief for all those who would have borne the full brunt of the dramatic consequences of the Bayrou budget. Today, the popular mobilization on September 10 and the unwavering determination of La France Insoumise have already achieved a first victory."
Laurent Wauquiez, president of the deputies of the right-wing party The Republicans (LR), voted in favor of the confidence motion, but he allowed "freedom of vote" for his party's elected representatives.
Regarding Le Pen's proposal to dissolve the parliament, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, who is also LR president, said he views another dissolution of the National Assembly as unnecessary. On local TV channel France 2, he stated it would lead to "chaos" and "solve nothing."
Olivier Faure, first secretary of the Socialist Party, emphasized the need to "restore energy and give purchasing power back to the French." "I want a government of the left and the ecologists, and it will then be up to Parliament to decide."
In a press release, the Elysee said that Macron "acknowledged" the result of the vote. "He will meet with Prime Minister Francois Bayrou tomorrow to accept the resignation of his government," the Elysee said.
Macron will nominate a new prime minister in the coming days, it added.
Macron nominated Bayrou as France's new prime minister on Dec. 13, 2024, one week after his predecessor, Michel Barnier, was also ousted in a vote of no confidence.
Bayrou was the fourth French prime minister nominated in 2024 by Macron. He was born in 1952 and founded the centrist party Democratic Movement (MoDem) in 2007. He ran as a presidential candidate three times, in 2002, 2007, and 2012. (1 euro = 1.17 U.S. dollar) ■