The French PM is resigning.

[Headers]

I am watching the parties tearing into the govt.
The right wing seem to be in the ascendency. Have I got that right?
The whole world seems to be in a big mess and at the mercy of the bond markets. Who owns all the bonds?

[exile]

Who owns all the bonds - Pension funds and mainly foreign governments via central banks - China may well have a good stock. Japanese investors certain hold a significant quantity of French bonds. But they are also held by banks - French and foreign.

[MAD87]

China certaainly owns a lot of French and other European debt. Bayrou has spent decades banging the table about debt (since free-spending Mitterand) but as soon as he tried to cut spending, everyone revolted.
Not many left to appoint as PM - 4 have already earned their PM's pension in Macron's 2nd term - and MPs are calling for parliament to be dissolved or for a new presidential election.
Who's next? Someone equally unpopular no doubt, and we're all exhausted by th shenanigans.

[Wilbro]

It's time the French accepted that they can't carry on retiring at a young age and wasting money on beauracratic non jobs. And don't blame the "boomers" for it. The younger population are as resistant to change as anyone!

[Hotrodder]

As an outsider, not really following French (or any) politics it appears to me that the French have had it very good for a long time. Now that the debt is out of control and cuts need to be made they just don't want to give anything up. The same thing is happening in UK but instead of taking to the streets and bringing the country to a standstill, they just look for another party that makes the right noises. At the moment they have a party that is prepared to make tough decisions but they don't like it. The banners should say "Selfishness Rules OK!"

[Blaze]

So now the French have got Bayrou kicked out.
Melenchon has whipped the country into a frenzy for strikes and go slows - for what reason ? As a Trotskyist he wants to destroy the governmental system to rebuild. Is this what France wants ?
France would seem to be more than dissatisfied with Macron, so who do the French want ? The Far Right ?
By admission the French are a nation of râleurs - they certainly know what they don't want, but just what do they want ...... apart from a state that will give them everything they want without having to pay for it.
No wonder France has such a huge debt. Every time a government wants to take measures to do something about it, the people complain, pointing out that it's the fat cats who make the decisions.

[Biloute]

Given our Constitution, to govern, the President and ministers must be able to rely on a majority in Parliament.
The current Constitution (the Fifth Republic), created by De Gaulle in 1958, functioned properly as long as Parliament was roughly divided into two blocs: left and right. It wasn't too difficult then for one of these blocs to have an absolute majority. If the President was on the same side as Parliament, he could choose a Prime Minister of his own and govern properly. If the President and Parliament weren't on the same side, the President had to coexist with a minister from the other side. This happened several times: it worked less well, but they still managed to run the country by making compromises.
Today, there are no longer two blocs in Parliament but three: left, center, and right. And these three blocs have three completely different visions on just about everything ! It's no longer possible to have an absolute majority !!! And the government simply can no longer govern because, whatever its proposals, they are rejected by two-thirds of the MPs...
In the current situation:
- a new Prime Minister won't change anything and he's very likely to be censured (and it's going to be difficult to find a volunteer to put his head on the chopping block)
- dissolving Parliament could be attempted to try to have a bloc with a strong majority, but it surely won't be an absolute majority (but you never know)
- the best solution would be for Macron to resign so that the entire population can choose a new President. But will this election result in a strong majority ? We'll only know if we try !
For the long-term future, I think that:
- the 5th Constitution no longer works, and a new one should be created to be able to govern even without an absolute majority.
- the government should be able to govern France without being constantly contradicted or hindered by the EU, judges, the Constitutional Council, and other multiple unelected "authorities."
- the people should be consulted more often by referendum on important issues.
- there should be a mechanism that allows the people to remove the President when things get too bad (Macron currently has 15% support in the polls, but he wants to stay for another two years !)

[MAD87]

As I see it, we're heading for another election - parliamentary, presidential, whatever. The local elections are due in March and I'll be tired enough at that point, staggering up to the salle des fêtes to vote. Any more and I might abstain. Trouble is, a lot of folk think like me, thus opening the door to extremes. Mélenchon v Le Pen in a presidential run-off is quite possible next time round. It doesn't bear thinking about. Mélenchon is, as Blaze said, antidemocratic. As for MLP, who knows? She's not currently eligible, but my betting is that she will be after her appeal process.
Meanwhile, Macron's lost the plot. Faure is a good alternative for PM imo, but the others won't contemplate him. I despair.
You've made some very good poinnts, Biloute, except that (a) referenda are exensive and (b) we need more than ever to belong to the EU, given Trump and Putin.

[Biloute]

@ MAD87
Olivier Faure? While the Socialist Party (PS) got 1.75% in the last presidential elections... He's likely to be censored right away!
Yes, we need Europe. But not the current EU:
- the EU that confiscated our sovereignty,
- the EU that floods us with standards while the Americans invent and the Chinese produce
- the EU that makes our electricity bills obscene
- the EU that negotiates trade agreements (Mercosur) with South America that kill our farmers in order to export German cars
- the EU to which we pay €9.33 billion more each year than we receive
- the EU that wants more migrants while the people want fewer,
- the EU that prefers to buy American fighter jets rather than French ones (Rafale)
- etc...
For 40 years, our weak governments have preferred to let unelected EU leaders govern France.
The 1957 Common Market was enough: we shouldn't have gone any further!

[Blaze]

I agree, Biloute has made some interesting points.

the people should be consulted more often by referendum on important issues.

Absolutely, but the people should be able to make themselves heard through their deputé. Sadly this is not the case at the moment. The deputé gets elected after making all sorts of promises to his electors but once he sets foot in Paris, his allegiances to his electors seems to fizzle out.

the EU that makes our electricity bills obscene

I don't agree ! It's the taxes France puts on electricity that make the bills so exorbitant !

The EU structure has become unmanageable. Too many member countries make unanimous voting very difficult. Understandably, no country wants to see its identity disappear and it's unsurprising that the stronger countries like France and Germany want the EU run as they see it. But the cost of administration, salaries, perks etc etc etc means that millions of euros are getting swallowed up with nothing to show for them except fat cats living a life of luxury.

Immigration is a worldwide problem with people seeking to escape war, famine, dictatorships, repression, lack of freedom and just generally seeking a better life. It was ever thus but communications today show just how enormous the problem is ....