She rejects PM Bayrou’s budget plan as Macron faces pressure over political crisis.

On Tuesday, French far-right leader Marine Le Pen demanded President Emmanuel Macron call “ultra-rapid” elections after the collapse of the government of Prime Minister Francois Bayrou.

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Accompanied by National Rally (RN) party president Jordan Bardella, Le Pen attended a meeting with Bayrou, who is seeking to save his position and push through adjustments to the 2026 fiscal budget.

The far-right leader argued that elections are justified so a new majority can draft the new budget. She criticized the prime minister’s current efforts to negotiate the budget, saying those talks should have happened July 15, when Bayrou first announced plans for nearly 44 billion euros in cuts.

“If he truly wanted to listen to the demands of different political parties, he should have done so back in July, and not now as a way of negotiating for a confidence vote,” she said.

Bayrou has scheduled a Sept. 8 confidence motion, presenting it as a referendum on the principle of making the nearly 44 billion euros in cuts, with details to be debated later. But all opposition forces have announced they will vote against it.

That would immediately force the centrist prime minister to resign. Macron — who has repeatedly ruled out stepping down despite calls from the left and from RN — would then have to choose between appointing another prime minister with majority support in the National Assembly or calling early legislative elections.

Le Pen told Bayrou he could not warn about the “terrible seriousness of public finances” while being “responsible” for the situation and, at the same time, fail to adopt “fair and effective” measures in response.

The far-right leader stressed that they are in “absolute disagreement” with the measures the centrist prime minister has proposed, describing them as “either anecdotal or deeply harmful.”

RN has proposed cutting public spending on immigration, which it argues would save “billions of euros.” The far-right party also wants to reduce France’s contribution to the European Union.

For that reason, Le Pen reiterated that French voters must be called to the polls so “the new majority that emerges from those elections” can draft the budget. “That is really the only democratic solution,” she said.

“The sooner we go to the polls, the sooner France will have a budget,” Bardella acknowledged.

Hours earlier, RN vice president Sebastien Chenu said polling suggests the far right could secure “an absolute majority,” particularly thanks to the collapse of centrist parties that had backed Macron.

Bayrou’s consultations with party leaders began on Monday and will continue through Thursday, when the Socialists are scheduled to meet with him at the official Matignon residence.

The Greens and Jean-Luc Melenchon’s France Unbowed (LFI) have said they will not attend the consultations, arguing there is no point in meeting with a prime minister who is about to fall.

They also called for Macron’s resignation and the scheduling of presidential elections. To that end, the Greens and LFI said they will present a parliamentary motion on Sept. 9 to remove him.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

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