Members of the LIOT faction of the lower house of the French Parliament submitted to the National Assembly a proposal for a cross-party vote of no confidence in the government of Prime Minister Elisabeth Born, said RTL. The initiative is ready to be supported by two more opposition parliamentary factions.
“I call on all deputies to show responsibility for the sake of preserving democracy,” said the leader of the association, Bertrand Panchet (quoted from BFM TV).
The LIOT proposal was supported by Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s coalition of leftists and green NUPES, The world. At the same time, according to the publication, deputies from RN (former leader – Marine Le Pen) intend to initiate their vote of no confidence. The latter, however, have already stated that they will support any proposed votes.
To pass a vote of no confidence, the votes of 287 deputies of the assembly are needed. Currently, LIOT has 20 members, NUPES – 149, RN – 88. In total, only 257 potential votes.
The votes of the rest of the opposition deputies in the lower house of parliament are controlled by the LR party (61 members). The day before, March 16, party spokesman Eric Ciotti said that LR would not support any vote of no confidence (he was quoted by the agency France info). However, on the same day, LR MP Fabien di Filippo declaredthat wants to be able to vote on the relevant issue.
On March 16, the French government used Article 49.3 of the Constitution, which allows laws to be passed without parliamentary approval, to approve a planned pension reform without the consent of the National Assembly. Deputies of the lower chamber met the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers with disapproving cries and “La Marseillaise”. The Senate (upper house of parliament) approved the reform three days earlier.
The French government’s pension reform project involves raising the lower retirement age from 62 to 64 years. The publication of the document in January provoked large-scale protests in Paris and other cities of the republic. Demonstrations continue in the first weeks of March.
For more information about the conflict between the president and the lower house of parliament around pension reform, see Kommersant’s article Emmanuel Macron Does Not Meet.
