French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has said she may caused France's minority government to be ousted by the end of the year if changes were not made to the draft budget for 2024. This is reported by the Associated Press, quoted by Focus.
The statement came after a meeting with conservative Prime Minister Michel Barnier to discuss next year's budget and other key issues. Le Pen, leader of the "National Union" party, expressed her readiness to introduce a vote of no confidence if the draft budget "remains as it is".
She stressed that her party has "red lines", including refusing to raise electricity taxes and increasing pensions from January. "We have said which are the non-negotiable points for us," she said. "We are direct in our political approach. We defend the French people."
Political instability in parliament
France's National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, remains deeply divided after elections in June-July this year. It is divided into three main blocks:
- Left coalition "New People's Front";
- Centrist allies of President Emmanuel Macron;
- The far-right party "National Union".
None of these blocs has an absolute majority. Prime Minister Michel Barnier's cabinet is made up mostly of members of his party "Republicans" and centrists, allies of Macron, who together have just over 210 MPs out of a total of 577.
This configuration forces the government to seek support from other parties, including the extreme right. Last month, the cabinet survived a vote of confidence brought by the left-wing coalition, thanks to the abstention of MPs from the "National Union".
Budget pressure from the European Union
France is under serious pressure from the European Commission to reduce its colossal national debt. The government aims to reduce the budget deficit from the current 6% of GDP to 5% in 2024. For this purpose, it is planned to cut costs by 60 billion euros.
The draft budget must be adopted by December 21, but without the support of the far-right "National Union" and their possible allies in parliament, the government may face a political crisis.