French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has narrowly survived a no-confidence vote, after his pledge to suspend pension reform wins him the support of left-wing MPs
Some 271 MPs backed the far left’s no-confidence motion – 18 votes short of a majority
In the end, the vote fell 18 votes short.
It was close but not enough to bring down Sébastien Lecornu, who earlier told MPs this is a “moment of truth”.
There will now be a second censure motion but nobody expects it to get through, because it’s sponsored by Marine Le Pen’s National Rally and for many MPs on the left, the idea of siding with the far right is considered toxic.
So Lecornu has survived. But he has no majority in parliament and can’t take his position for granted.
The Socialists may not be in government but they have, in effect, been bought off with two big concessions – on pension reform and a promise not to push through other changes without a vote.
Lecornu knows they won’t support him on everything and the Socialists insist this is not a pact. After the result of the second vote is confirmed, the next challenge is for the government to pass a budget.
