Paris, Feb 20 (IANS) French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou survived his sixth no-confidence vote since taking office on December 13 last year.
The no-confidence vote, initiated by the Socialist Party (PS), received only 181 votes in the French National Assembly, far below the 289 needed to unseat Bayrou, according to the results announced by the Speaker’s representative on Wednesday night.
The PS launched the no-confidence vote on Monday in protest against Bayrou’s use of the term “migratory submersion”. The left-wing party accused him of accelerating France’s “political and moral decline”.
The far-right party National Rally (RN) had previously announced that it would not support the no-confidence vote, Xinhua news agency reported.
Earlier on Wednesday, the hard-left party La France Insoumise (LFI) said that it would vote in favour, despite acknowledging that the Socialists didn’t support LFI’s no-confidence votes against Bayrou.
Bayrou was appointed Prime Minister by French President Emmanuel Macron on December 13 after his predecessor Michel Barnier was ousted in a no-confidence vote.
Bayrou has survived the last in a series of four no-confidence motions levelled against his government over a period of mere days. But as he looks down from what he called a budgetary “Himalaya,” the 73-year-old centrist veteran faces a rocky road ahead, with little to hold on to.
Bayrou effectively opened a debate on the subject last month when he said it felt as if parts of France were being “flooded” by immigrants. The comments, which echoed far-right rhetoric on migration, threatened to upend his efforts to get the Socialists to back his budget. The party said it was outraged and vowed to put forward its own no-confidence motion over the government’s refusal to uphold “republican values” once the budget was finalised.
The measure likely won’t pass without the support of the National Rally, which is unlikely.
“We’re not signing this rag,” said a lawmaker close to the party’s former President, Marine Le Pen, who was granted anonymity to explain the party’s strategy after having discussed the matter during a group meeting.
Earlier on February 6, Bayrou survived a second no-confidence vote, launched by the hard left-wing party LFI.
Earlier in the day, Bayrou had already survived a separate no-confidence vote.
LFI initiated two no-confidence motions against Bayrou after he invoked Article 49.3 of the French Constitution on February 3 to push through France’s 2025 state budget bill and the first part of the Social Security financing bill without a parliamentary vote.
Without support from the RN and its left-wing ally, PS, the LFI failed to secure enough votes to unseat Bayrou in both attempts.
France has been embroiled in political instability since President Emmanuel Macron decided to call a surprise snap election in June, a move that delivered a fractious hung parliament in which no single party holds a majority.
Wrangling over the budget has rattled markets and toppled the government of Bayrou’s predecessor, Michel Barnier, after only three months.
Bayrou’s government, in turn, has survived due to expensive concessions to the left and far right to advance the legislation.
–IANS
int/khz
