Paris (AFP) - France’s lower house of parliament Wednesday started debating two no-confidence motions in a session widely expected to topple the minority government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier in a historic vote.

The ousting of the Barnier government after just three months in office would deepen the country’s political crisis and present President Emmanuel Macron with the unenviable choice of picking a viable successor with over two years of his presidential term left.

The National Assembly lower house debated two motions brought by the hard left and the far right in a standoff over next year’s austerity budget, after the prime minister on Monday forced through a social security financing bill without a vote.

“The worst policy would be not to block such a budget,” three-time presidential candidate Marine Le Pen said during the parliamentary debate, urging lawmakers to vote out the government of Macron and its “technocratic” choices.

The motion brought by Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) party was expected to be rejected.

But Le Pen has said her forces would back the left’s motion, giving it enough numbers to pass a vote that was expected to topple a French government for the first time in more than 60 years.

The first results were expected around 1900 GMT.

- ‘Death knell’ -

Eric Coquerel, a hard-left MP, said the motion against Barnier sounded the “death knell of Emmanuel Macron’s mandate.”

The French president was “today an obstacle, and in no way a solution. Today we are voting to censure your government, but more than anything else, we are sounding the death knell for a mandate: that of the president,” he added.

Macron wrapped up his three-day state visit to Saudi Arabia and was returning to Paris.

A world away from the crisis, he strolled earlier Wednesday through the desert sands of the Al-Ula oasis, an iconic tourist project of the kingdom, marvelling at ancient landmarks.

On Tuesday, Macron accused Le Pen’s far-right of “unbearable cynicism” in backing the motion.

In France, Barnier said he believed his government could still survive. “I want this and it is possible,” Barnier said late Tuesday.

He accused Le Pen of “trying to get into a kind of bidding war” in their talks.

The turmoil follows a snap parliamentary election called by Macron in the summer that tried and failed to halt the march of the far right.

The result left the RN as the largest single party in the National Assembly but with no faction holding a majority.

Barnier took office with Le Pen becoming a potential kingmaker, and her party saying it could topple the administration at nearly any point of its choosing.

No new elections can be called within a year of last summer’s vote, narrowing Macron’s options.

- ‘His failure’-

Some have suggested Macron himself should resign to break the impasse.

But Macron rejected those calls, saying such a scenario amounted to “political fiction”.

“It’s frankly not up to scratch to say these things,” Macron said.

With markets nervous and France bracing for public-sector strikes over the threat of cutbacks that will shut down schools and hit air and rail traffic, there is a growing sense of crisis.

The unions have called for civil servants, including teachers and air traffic controllers, to strike on Thursday over separate cost-cutting measures proposed by their respective ministries this autumn.

“His failure,” was left-wing daily Liberation’s front-page headline, with a picture of Macron, whose term runs until 2027.

In an editorial, Le Monde said Le Pen’s move risked upsetting her own supporters, such as retirees and business leaders, by toppling the government.

“In the space of a few minutes, she shattered the strategy of normalisation she had consistently pursued,” the daily said.

Some observers have suggested that Le Pen, 56, is seeking to bring down Macron before his term ends by ousting Barnier.

Le Pen is embroiled in a high-profile embezzlement trial. If found guilty in March, she could be blocked from participating in France’s next presidential election.

But if Macron stepped down soon, an election would have to be called within a month, potentially ahead of the verdict in her trial.

Candidates for the post of premier are few and far between, but loyalist Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu and Macron’s centrist ally Francois Bayrou are possible contenders.

On the left, Macron could turn to former Socialist premier and interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve, a contender in September.

If the government falls, it would be the first successful no-confidence vote since a defeat for Georges Pompidou’s government in 1962, when Charles de Gaulle was president.

The lifespan of Barnier’s government would be the shortest of any administration since the Fifth Republic began in 1958.

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