France’s Government Survives No-Confidence Vote

Europe|France’s Government Survives No-Confidence Vote

France’s government survived a no-confidence vote in Parliament on Thursday by a thin margin, giving the country a brief respite from intense political turmoil before what is expected to be another brutal battle over its budget.

The no-confidence motion, which was filed by the far-left France Unbowed party, drew the support of 271 lawmakers in the 577-seat lower house — shy of the absolute majority of 289 votes required to topple Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu and his cabinet.

Mr. Lecornu’s survival gave France a moment to breathe after weeks of political instability that plunged the country into deep uncertainty over its future and weighed on its economy. Had the no-confidence motion against Mr. Lecornu succeeded, this would have been the second time in less than two weeks that the government had collapsed.

The results on Thursday, however, were largely expected after Mr. Lecornu offered this week to delay an unpopular pension overhaul that raised the age of retirement. That move was a major concession to the moderate left-wing Socialist Party, whose support Mr. Lecornu needed to ensure the no-confidence motions would not pass.

The government of Mr. Lecornu, a centrist and close ally of President Emmanuel Macron, is France’s fourth in less than a year. Mr. Lecornu resigned last week after less than a month in office, only to be reappointed just days later, which angered opponents who wanted Mr. Macron to call snap legislative elections or to resign.

The French president has firmly ruled out resigning, but he threatened to call new elections if Mr. Lecornu were toppled. The government’s survival on Thursday averted that outcome, at least for the time being.

But the respite could be short-lived. Mr. Lecornu must now get a budget passed through a cantankerous lower house, where the main forces — an assortment of divided left-wing parties, a tenuous centrist coalition, a reduced conservative party, and a far-right bloc — agree on very little. Additional no-confidence votes are likely in the coming weeks and months.

There is no working majority in the lower house of Parliament, known as the National Assembly, and France has been governed over the past year by a succession of unstable, center-right minority cabinets appointed by an increasingly unpopular Mr. Macron.