(Bloomberg) -- The French government “has put an end to discussions” on possible changes to the social security bill, Marine Le Pen told AFP on Sunday, paving the way for a possible no-confidence vote as soon as Wednesday.
“The government has expressed its wish” not to modify the bill, which is part of the budget to be submitted to the National Assembly, the far-right leader said. “That’s extremely clear and we’ve taken note of that,” she added, responding to an interview given by Budget Minister Laurent Saint-Martin to Le Parisien newspaper.
Earlier on Sunday, Jordan Bardella, the head of Le Pen’s National Rally party echoed her comments, writing on X that “out of stubbornness and sectarianism, the minority government therefore put an end to the round of negotiations, at the risk of provoking its censorship.”
Michel Barnier’s government “remains open to dialog, as it has from the outset,” a person close to the prime minister told AFP on Sunday after Le Pen’s comments.
Le Pen, whose party has the most seats in parliament, has stepped up threats in recent days to bring down the government in a no-confidence motion unless changes are made to the budget. The National Rally set out further demands for changes even after Barnier dropped plans to raise taxes on electricity in a key concession to the far right.
(Updates with comment from Barnier’s team. An earlier version corrected the date of a possible no-confidence vote)
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