The Parliament of France today voted no confidence in the government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier with 331 votes in favor of the 288 that were needed.

Barnier, who has only been in office for three months, is now forced to submit his resignation, as well as that of the entire government, to President Emmanuel Macron.

It is the first time a government has been voted no-confidence since 1962, when Georges Pompidou's government fell.

The French government's debacle is rooted in Macron's decision to dissolve parliament in June, leading to snap elections that resulted in a parliament divided into three roughly equal groups without a clear majority and Macron unwilling to he believed in left or right options, but centrists close to him.

This meant that the centrist minority government led by Michel Barnier was at the mercy of the left-wing alliance New Popular Front (NFP) and the far-right National Rally (RN) led by Marine Le Pen, who together they had enough MPs to overthrow. she.

Barnier announced on Monday that to avoid a vote in parliament, he would postpone the part of the budget related to social security through a special procedure, which was not supported by either the NFP or the RN.

This procedure, in turn, enabled the opposition representatives to initiate a vote of no confidence. The far left and far right promised to do so after the debate which started at 16pm today.

New elections are not constitutionally possible before June and Macron will now face a major challenge in appointing a new government in a parliament that is more divided than ever, as well as calls for his resignation.