Macron Aims to Avoid Fresh Election If Prime Minister Falls

French President Emmanuel Macron will seek to avoid calling a snap election if his prime minister is brought down in a confidence motion next week, according to people familiar with his thinking.

France has been plunged into political crisis since Prime Minister Francois Bayrou called a Sept. 8 confidence vote in a bid to break a deadlock over planned budget cuts. He has until then to convince lawmakers to back him, but the most powerful parties have vowed to bring him down, suggesting his ouster may be inevitable.