More than half of French want PM Barnier’s government to fall, survey shows

French Prime Minister Michel Barnier leaves the presidential Élysée Palace in Paris on November 27, 2024.

More half of the French want the current government to fall, a survey showed on Thursday. The reason for the anger is Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s budget proposal, which entails both steep tax hikes and painful spending cuts.

Some 53% of French people want Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s government to fall due to anger over his proposed budget, according to an Ifop-Fiducial poll for Sud Radio published on Thursday.

The poll indicated that 67% opposed Barnier’s budget, which aims to cut France’s spiralling public deficit through 60 billion euros ($63 billion) in tax hikes and spending cuts, while 33% backed it.

Barnier’s government could fall before Christmas, and perhaps even by next week, if far-right and leftist foes force a no-confidence motion that he is likely to lose, according to a dozen sources from across the political spectrum.

The findings in the Ifop-Fiducial poll were based on a survey of 1,006 people carried out on Nov. 26 and Nov. 27.

In an Elabe poll for BFM TV on Wednesday, 63% of those surveyed said President Emmanuel Macron should resign if Barnier’s government fell.

(Reuters)


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