French govt survives no-confidence votes over budget issue

PARIS - The French government led by Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu on Tuesday survived two no-confidence votes over a budget issue after deputies in the National Assembly rejected the motions.

The motions, filed separately on Friday by left-wing parliamentary groups including La France Insoumise, the Democratic and Republican Left group (GDR) and the Ecologists, as well as by the far-right National Rally and its ally, the Union of the Right for the Republic (UDR), accused the government of abusing constitutional powers to force the state budget through parliament.

The motion put forward by left-wing deputies garnered 267 votes, falling 22 votes short of the 289 required for adoption, according to the National Assembly. The second motion, tabled by the right-wing, was also rejected, receiving 140 votes, well below the threshold needed to bring down the government.

According to France's BFM TV, Article 49.3 effectively allows the opposition to table a motion of censure, which allows them to reject the adoption of the text passed using this constitutional provision and to bring down the government.

The state budget comprises two main components: revenues and expenditures. Lecornu first invoked Article 49.3 in the National Assembly on Jan. 20 to push through the revenue side of the budget bill, and resorted to the mechanism again to adopt the expenditure side after his government survived two no-confidence votes Friday.

With the no-confidence votes out of the way on Tuesday, the bill will now move to the Senate before returning to the National Assembly for a third and final use of Article 49.3, a step that is also expected to be followed by no-confidence motions.

Lecornu's minority government has little room for manoeuvre in France's fractious parliament, where budget disputes have already ousted his two predecessors over cost-cutting measures in a little over a year.