French Prime Minister Wins No-Confidence Vote Just Days After Being Reappointed

2025-10-16 20:34:50, Kosova & Bota CNA

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu survived two no-confidence motions on Thursday, just days after naming his cabinet and making a significant political concession to stay in power.

The vote of confidence followed Lecornu's decision on Tuesday to support the suspension of the 2023 pension reform, in an attempt to keep his government in power long enough to pass an austerity budget by the end of the year.

The left-wing Socialist Party (SP) had threatened to vote to oust the prime minister if he did not agree to suspend the reform, under which the retirement age would be extended from 62 to 64.

Without the support of the SP, two separate motions presented on Thursday by the far-left party, France Unsubdued, and the far-right, National Rally, failed to reach the number of votes needed to oust Lecornu.

After the vote, Lecornu said he is ready to "start work" on budget talks, which are expected to begin in Parliament next week.

"You can see how serious the situation is... The debates had to start," the head of government told BFMTV.

But Socialist leader Olivier Faure warned that his party could again support a motion to topple the Government.

"If the Government does not fulfill its commitments, especially on the suspension of pension reform, we will immediately vote against the cabinet," Faure said in X.

France, the eurozone's second-largest economy, has been plunged into political paralysis since President Emmanuel Macron called early elections last year, aiming to consolidate his power.

But the elections resulted in a deadlocked Parliament and a rise for the far right.

Lecornu, the seventh prime minister appointed by Macron since 2017, must now steer an austerity budget through a deeply divided parliament until the end of the year.

Lecornu, who became prime minister last month, resigned last Monday following criticism of his first cabinet.

But he was reappointed a few days later and formed a new government cabinet in time to present the draft budget to Parliament.

Faced with pressure from the European Union to reduce the country's deficit and debt, France faces an uphill battle over the austerity measures that brought down Lecornu's two predecessors.

France's debt-to-GDP ratio is the third highest in the European Union after Greece and Italy and roughly double the EU limit of 60 percent.

Lecornu has vowed not to use a constitutional tool that has been used to pass every budget without a vote since 2022, and has promised that all laws will be subject to debate.

"The government will make proposals, we will debate and you will vote," the 39-year-old, who is a Macron loyalist, stressed in a speech to deputies on Tuesday.

But the opposition has challenged his optimism.

National Rally leader Marine Le Pen accused MPs of giving Lecornu an opportunity "out of fear of the elections," saying she was "eagerly" awaiting the dissolution of Parliament.

The far right sees this as its best chance yet to seize power in the 2027 presidential election, when Macron's second and final term ends./ REL