Emmanuel Macron’s government narrowly survives two motions of no-confidence in Paris

Two motions of no-confidence brought against Emmanuel Macron’s government in Paris narrowly missed the required target.

Emmanuel Macron’s government in Paris survived two motions of no-confidence by the skin of its teeth today, Monday, March 20. Motions had been tabled against the current administration by both the far-right National Rally and Centrist MPs.

This came after the French President invoked special powers to bypass the lower house and push his new legislation through parliament last Friday 17, without going to a vote. As a result, violent protests erupted in cities across France in protest at Macron’s desire to raise the age of retirement for workers in the country from 62 to 64.

In today’s first round of voting in the National Assembly, 278 Centrist MPs voted in favour. Unfortunately for the party, they were left just nine short of the required 187 that would have seen the motion carried through. The motion tabled by the far-right attracted only 94 votes, as reported by Sky News.

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne was urged to resign by protesting MPs from La France Insoumise (LFI, France Unbowed), the hard-left party. Following the first vote, they brandished placards that read ‘We’ll meet in the streets’.

Mathilde Panot, the hard-left MP, tweeted: “The government only holds 9 votes. Nothing has been settled. Nothing is over. In the eyes of the people, this government is already dead. See you on Thursday for the popular censure motion!”.

Le gouvernement ne tient qu'à 9 voix.

Rien n’a été réglé. Rien n'est fini.

Aux yeux du peuple, ce gouvernement est déjà mort.

Rendez-vous jeudi pour la motion de censure populaire !#DirectAN

— Mathilde Panot (@MathildePanot) March 20, 2023

Ahead of today’s vote, burning barricades were erected on a motorway by protestors near the French city of Rennes. This led to an outbreak of clashes with the police as they attempted to remove them and let the traffic flow. Bordeaux, Toulon and Strasbourg have all seen similar demonstrations in recent days.

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