Marine Le Pen, the leader of the French far-right, was meeting with Prime Minister Michel Barnier on Monday as her party stepped up its threats that it was ready to overthrow his government and plunge France into a political crisis.
Following this summer’s elections, President Emmanuel Macron selected right-winger Barnier as prime minister of a minority administration. Months of political tensions are culminating over the budget, which parliament has not yet approved.
Barnier is considering using article 49.3 of the constitution, which gives a government the power to enact laws without a parliamentary vote, as a weapon in response to the criticism of the budget from all sides of the political spectrum.
That might, however, lead Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) to form an unholy coalition with the left-wing bloc in parliament and muster enough votes to overthrow the government in a vote of confidence.
As Barnier tries to hear both sides of the issue, Le Pen arrived at the French premier’s home in Matignon for the breakfast meeting. Later in the afternoon, hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) parliamentary party leader Mathilde Panot was scheduled to follow.
Further complicating the situation is the constitutional rule in France that there must be a one year gap between legislative elections, meaning that Macron cannot call polls until the summer to resolve the crisis.
