The French National Assembly rejected on Monday two motions of censure presented by France Insoumise and Rassemblement Nationale on the Social Security budget proposed by the government of Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne.
The motion of censure of France Insoumise, presented alone without its usual partners, such as the Greens, and without the support of the left-wing coalition, Nupes, has managed to garner 218 votes in favor, but has not passed the approval of the House despite the support of National Grouping, whose proposal to unseat the French Government has accumulated 90 supports.
As a result, the Social Security budget was approved at first reading in the Chamber. It will be examined in the Senate from Wednesday in committee, and next Monday, November 7, in session, as reported by the television channel TF1.
Borne criticized the motion of censure of the left, claiming that France Insoumise, led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, «continues to live in an alternative country», while National Rally, led by the far-right Marine le Pen, has indicated that its «ideological foundations have not changed in 50 years».
«What it seeks is discord at the cost of an unnatural alliance with the Nupes (New Popular Ecological and Social Union). I can’t imagine for a moment what they can govern together, but they have sadly common arguments,» he has stressed.
The no-confidence motions, which come after two motions to unseat the government failed again last week, were carried in response to the executive’s decision to invoke Article 49.3 of the Constitution, which allows a finance bill to be passed without a vote, to give the ‘green light’ to the first part of the 2023 state budget.
With Macron at the Elysée, the government already resorted to 49.3 of the Constitution in early 2020, to push through a controversial pension reform that was ultimately suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, the budget plan will go directly to the Senate.
