French prime minister survives two no-confidence votes as minority government faces turbulence
The French prime minister survived two no-confidence votes that aimed to bring down his fragile minority government just days after it took office.
Sébastien Lecornu, a key ally of the centrist president, Emmanuel Macron, told parliament on Thursday that lawmakers must either engage in “parliamentary debate” on next year’s budget or topple the government and trigger “political chaos”.
A total of 271 lawmakers backed the first no-confidence motion, introduced by the left’s France Unbowed (La France Insoumise), only 18 short of the 289 needed to bring down the government.
A second vote of no confidence, tabled by Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally, secured 144 votes. It had been expected to draw far fewer because it lacked the support of France Unbowed.
Although the government survived, the unexpectedly close first vote highlights the difficulties facing Lecornu as he prepares for months of debate over next year’s budget.
The government owes its survival to the Socialist party leadership, which held back from joining the France Unbowed motion after Lecornu said he would suspend Macron’s landmark pension overhaul. The decision to freeze the reform, which had begun to raise the pension age from 62 to 64 over several years, was a significant concession.
Nonetheless, seven lawmakers from the Socialist parliamentary group broke ranks with the party leadership and voted to bring the government down.
Lecornu must now try to steer a 2026 budget for the European Union’s second-largest economy through parliament’s bitterly divided lower house before 31 December.
Mathilde Panot, the head of the parliamentary group of France Unbowed, said: “Only a handful of votes were missing to topple Lecornu and his government. Our first thought is for the country, for all those who will endure the cruel policies announced for the budget.”
The Socialist leader, Olivier Faure, said his party would use the ensuing debate to try to dismantle an “unfair budget”.
Jordan Bardella, the president of National Rally, wrote on social media that the government was on shaky ground. “A majority cobbled together through horse-trading managed today to save their positions, at the expense of the national interest,” he said.
Yaël Braun-Pivet, the centrist leader of parliament, said: “Now we all have to roll up our sleeves.” She said that throughout the budget debate, the government would have to find “dialogue and compromise”.
France has lurched from crisis to crisis since Macron’s gamble on a snap election last year led to an inconclusive result. Parliament remains divided between three blocs: the left, the far right and the centre, with no clear majority.
World Affairs Correspondent
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