French far-right leader Marine Le Pen claims government collapse 'is not a victory'

France's National Assembly — the lower house of the Parliament — toppled Prime Minister Michel Barnier's government on Wednesday night.

A total of 331 MPs, from the left-wing coalition New Popular Front (NFP) and the far-right National Rally, voted in favour of the no-confidence motion, out of 577 lawmakers.

The move has thrown the country into a period of political and economic uncertainty, just six months after President Emmanuel Macron dissolved the National Assembly following his party’s heavy loss in the EU elections.

The reactions have so far been mixed in the political sphere.

Mathilde Panot, the leader of the hard-left party France Unbowed (LFI), part of the NFP coalition, welcomed the outcome, telling reporters: "Today is a historic day... Today we have defended democracy."

“The chaos is not us, it was Emmanuel Macron for the past seven years,” she added before asking the French president to resign.

Calls for Macron to step down have been mounting among various opposition parties.

However, he is not obliged to do so as his term in office ends in spring 2027.

However, Olivier Faure, leader of the Socialist Party (PS) and a member of the NFP coalition, said that he does not think Macron’s resignation is "a good solution" to the political crisis.

On the far-right, Marine Le Pen, the prominent figure of the National Rally party, adopted a grave tone during an interview with French TV channel TF1 on Wednesday night.

"There was no other solution”, Le Pen said, claiming she does not consider the result of the vote as "a victory."

When asked whether Macron should resign, Marine Le Pen said that she does not call for early presidential elections. “He alone will make that decision,” she added.

When it comes to the country's