France’s Bayrou Defends Confidence Vote as Needed Wake-Up Call

French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said he doesn’t regret calling a confidence vote putting his government on the line, as France is “burdened with debt” and the political parties must “each take responsibility.”

“To make the French people see the seriousness of the situation, I said that I was putting the future of the government on the table,” he said in an interview on France 2 TV Thursday night.