On Wednesday, the National Assembly voted to dissolve Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s government, with 331 out of 577 members affirming the decision. It is the first successful no-confidence vote in the French Parliament since 1962.

Macron blamed the ousting of his prime minister on a “coalition of the irresponsible” — a comment on how the vote was carried through with cooperation between the hard-left New Popular Front alliance and hard-right National Rally party.

The prime minister and his Cabinet will now leave their positions after just nine weeks. It is a stunning rebuke of Macron’s attempts to walk a centrist line amid a growing deadlock in French politics.

Macron, as president and head of state, will not be affected by the reshuffle and will stay in office until his second term ends in 2027.

The president is asking Barnier to stay on as a caretaker prime minister while he rushes to fill the power vacuum.

It is a precarious situation of Macron’s own making. The president called a snap election in June, hoping that a majority coalition would emerge and bring some “clarification” to the gridlocked Assembly.

The left-wing alliance and centrist alliance coordinated the strategic removal of their candidates from ballots to block the National Rally from securing what was expected to be a historic victory. The strategy worked to a degree, but the president’s hopes for clarification were dashed.

The New Popular Front came out on top and the Ensemble alliance came in behind it, but the National Rally still managed to make significant gains in the Assembly — resulting in no clear majority and a hung Parliament.

In an attempt to appease the increasingly powerful right-wing, Macron appointed the conservative-leaning centrist Barnier.

This pleased no one, culminating in weeks of gridlock on attempts to pass France’s 2025 national budget. Unable to find compromise among the warring parties, Barnier invoked special powers to force the passage of the budget without a vote.

The Left revolted with a no-confidence vote, and the Right supported it. Centrists called it irresponsible, but the two wings called it inevitable.

As the party with the most seats, the left-wing coalition has promised to swat down any future prime minister who does not come from the ranks of its coalition.

Additionally, lawmakers across the spectrum have begun to murmur about the necessity of a resignation from Macron if the Assembly has any chance of passing legislation.

National Rally leader Marine Le Pen appears to be biding time, awaiting a more opportune moment for her next move. She has thus far refused to call for the president’s resignation but warned that political pressure will continue to mount.

Macron, who will address the French public Thursday for the first time since the no-confidence vote, is just trying to keep his head above water.

The political enfants terribles of the Left, Right, and center are stuck with one another until July 2025 — the soonest that another snap election can be called.