Lecornu’s survival also spares any immediate need for President Emmanuel Macron to again dissolve the National Assembly and call snap legislative elections—a hazardous option the French leader had signaled he might take if Lecornu fell.
The close ally of the French president faced two no-confidence motions filed by Macron’s fiercest opponents: the hard-left France Unbowed party and Marine Le Pen of the far-right National Rally, along with her allies in Parliament.
The 577-seat chamber voted on the France Unbowed motion first, which fell short with 271 lawmakers supporting it. It had needed a majority of 289 votes to succeed. Lawmakers are now voting on Le Pen’s second motion, but it is thought to be even less likely to pass, as the far-right leader’s opponents on the left are not expected to back it.
However, Lecornu isn’t out of the woods yet. To secure the necessary votes, he hinted at the possibility of rolling back one of the flagship but most unpopular reforms of Macron’s presidency— the gradual increase of France’s retirement age from 62 to 64.
Lecornu’s proposed suspension of the 2023 pension reform helped convince some opposition lawmakers to grudgingly decide not to support the efforts to topple him, at least for now. But they could change course and back future no-confidence motions if their demands aren’t met in the upcoming budget negotiations, which are expected to be fractious.
Importantly, Lecornu has promised not to use a special constitutional power that would allow the government to push the budget through Parliament without lawmakers’ approval. This was the tool Macron’s government employed to impose the 2023 pension reform despite widespread protests.
Building consensus in Parliament for tax hikes, spending cuts, and other budget measures to start reining in France’s ballooning state deficit and debt promises to be extremely difficult.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/world/3852818/embattled-french-prime-minister-sebastien-lecornu-survives-no-confidence-vote/
