The French government was saved from collapse

According to Isna, the French government was saved from falling in spite of two impeachment motions presented by extreme left-wing parties and extreme right-wing parties with the support of moderate socialists and conservative legislators.

The Euronews website reported: The French government confronted Prime Minister Sebastien LeCorneau today (Friday) with two impeachment motions presented to the lower house in the country’s parliament due to the decision to approve part of the postponed 2026 budget without a vote of the representatives.

The French government survived two no-confidence votes in parliament on Friday, stemming from a decision to approve the revenue part of the 2026 budget without a final vote in the lower house. A total of 269 MPs voted in favor of the motion of no confidence presented by the far-left party “France Unyielding” along with the Greens and the French Communist Party.

288 votes were needed to remove the government from power. A second motion of no confidence, presented by the far right, received fewer votes.

Both groups sought to punish the government for using without a vote Article 49.3 of the Basic Law – a controversial tool provided in the Constitution – to pass the first part of the budget bill.

The prime minister will again invoke Article 49(3) of the constitution to bypass parliament’s vote on the budget bill, a move likely to trigger further no-confidence votes.

Reuters reported that the government “must bypass parliament after months of negotiations that failed to produce a budget bill that would curb the deficit and win the approval of the lower house of parliament, where no party has a majority.”

France has been plunged into political turmoil since President Emmanuel Macron called early parliamentary elections in June 2024. Since then, the National Assembly has been divided into three blocs, with no party holding an absolute majority.

By deciding to invoke Article 49.3 in the Revenue Department, Lecorno violated his promise on October 3 not to use this mechanism. The government, which gained more power with the rejection of two no-confidence motions, immediately applied Article 49.3 in the expense section of this bill. This move is likely to lead to more impeachment plans, which are expected to fail again.

France is under increasing pressure to reduce its budget deficit, which reached 5.4 percent of GDP last year. Paris has pledged to reduce the budget deficit below 3% of GDP under EU rules.

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