Contributed 

Who remembers last year when an alliance led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon got the highest votes and was prevented from forming a government. So much for Democracy. And it said a lot about the governments of the United States and the other major European powers who only applauded Emmanuel Macron’s blocking of the election winner from office. This revealed that the notion of western democracy is upheld only so long as the right people win.

Blame for this can’t be put on Donald Trump. It happened during Joe Biden’s presidency. It happened when very few French citizens wanted President Macron or the government he had previously cobbled together. France rejected austerity. It led to the Yellow Vests movement, and then the popular revolt against raising the retirement age.

France had fought over many years for its advanced welfare system, free health, and education, and more. It led to a quality of life envied by most of the world. Then Macron embraced neoliberalism as the means to repair a floundering economy. The pretence w2as that France is living beyond its means and the social welfare system must be cut drastically.

This is the context in which the current Macron appointed government led by François Bayrou, has proposed this year’s budget, which continues Macron’s unpopular direction with a €44 billion cut, chopping welfare, scrapping two public holidays for workers, and freezing future rises in welfare spending.

“It’s a strong signal that we are sending to the financial markets that we want to have a France that is even more solid,” said the previously Macron appointed Prime Minister Michel Barrier. He had to resign last December after a no confidence motion was passed in the French parliament.

The public debt is huge. No one disputes this fact. The differences are about how this is tackled. One side holds that it must follow Brussel’s dictate that government expenditure of European Union governments must be reduced to 3 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). France’s ration sat at 113 percent in 2024.

The government holds that the answer is austerity. Frances believes that the burden should fall on those who have been profiting from the situation, and if necessary, cuts in other areas not related to the standard of living and quality of life of the majority of citizens.

Bayrou now faces rejection of his budget on 8 September, and this will probably lead to a no confidence vote, and perhaps Bayrou’s resignation. There is already a broad-based call for another parliamentary election. Polls are saying that a large majority of the population backs this. France is heading for another political crises, except this one could be far deeper than the other recent ones.

A national shutdown is planned for 10 September, which is likely to bring massive street marches.

While many of the commentators focus on the personalities, they lose sight of the fact that each crisis has been part of a larger and longer-term crisis, starting with France’s economic decline, furthered by governments servicing the financial markets at everyone else’s expense, which has fed a growing political crisis.

France turned away from domination by the Republican and Socialist parties of the two-party system. This lead to political polarisation, with Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally on one side, and on the left, Mélenchon’s France Unbowed and the New popular Front coalition which it leads.

For the first time, National Rally is considering supporting the no confidence motion on 8 September. If this happens, the Prime Minister and his government will fall. Macron has so far refused to countenance a new election.

The scene is set for a major showdown.