French Prime Minister Michel Barnier used the controversial Article 49.3 of the French Consitution to force the adoption of next year’s social security budget plan. In retaliation, opposition parties from the left and far right are threatening his government with a no-confidence vote.
French Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s government is hanging on by a thread.
On Monday, Barnier, who lacks a majority in the National Assembly — the lower house of the French parliament — activated the controversial Article 49.3 of the French Constitution to pass his social security plan for next year without a vote.
This, in turn, allows opposition parties to launch a no-confidence vote. Both the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) and far-right National Rally (RN) have announced they would file the censure motion if the prime minister went ahead with his plans.
The vote could come as early as Wednesday.
“The French are fed up with being mistreated (…) We cannot leave the situation as it is,” said Marine Le Pen, firebrand figure of the National Rally on Monday.
What happens now?
Either the motion is voted by the majority, bringing down the Barnier government or the motion is rejected, and the social security bill will be adopted and sent back to the Senate.
However, the first option seems the most plausible, considering LFI has 71 seats and the far right and its allies have 141 seats. A total of 289 votes are needed to topple the government.
Other parties from the left-wing coalition NFP to which LFI belongs may vote for the motion of censure as well in the next two days.
If the government fell, it would be the first successful no-confidence vote since 1962, when Charles de Gaulle was president.
