French Parliament ousts second PM in less than a year, fueling instability

The French government was thrown into fresh turmoil Monday as lawmakers fired the prime minister, the latest leader tossed out by a deeply divided legislature.

Parliamentarians on the left and right voted against François Bayrou in a motion of no confidence. They are unhappy about his proposal to make drastic cuts of around 44 billion euros ($51 billion) to next year’s budget, an unpopular attempt to resolve France’s economic woes.

This was the second time in nine months that lawmakers in France’s National Assembly ousted a prime minister; Michel Barnier was deposed in a vote of no confidence in December. Before that, the last successful vote of no confidence was in 1962. It means French President Emmanuel Macron will be looking for his fifth prime minister in just 20 months...