PARIS (Reuters) – Some 53% of French people want Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s government to fall due to anger over his proposed budget, according to an Ifop-Fiducial poll for Sud Radio published on Thursday.
The poll indicated that 67% opposed Barnier’s budget, which aims to cut France’s spiralling public deficit through 60 billion euros ($63 billion) in tax hikes and spending cuts, while 33% backed it.
Barnier’s government could fall before Christmas, and perhaps even by next week, if far-right and leftist foes force a no-confidence motion that he is likely to lose, according to a dozen sources from across the political spectrum.
The findings in the Ifop-Fiducial poll were based on a survey of 1,006 people carried out on Nov. 26 and Nov. 27.
In an Elabe poll for BFM TV on Wednesday, 63% of those surveyed said President Emmanuel Macron should resign if Barnier’s government fell.
($1 = 0.9457 euros)
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Mark Potter)
