France's newly appointed Prime Minister, Michel Barnier, faces a no-confidence motion this Tuesday, brought by the left. While the motion is unlikely to succeed, it highlights the fragility of his government.
The no-confidence motion was initiated by 192 lawmakers from a left-wing coalition known as the New Popular Front, which includes members from the hard-left France Unbowed, the Socialists, Greens, and Communists. To succeed, the motion requires 289 votes.
Michel Barnier was appointed by centrist Emmanuel Macron in September to help stabilise a potentially tense "cohabitation" across the political spectrum, following the inconclusive legislative elections earlier this summer.
Barnier, 73, has since warned that France risks financial crisis if its budget deficit is not tackled, suggesting a tax rise for high earners.
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Political observers believe however that the NFP, a coalition of Socialists, Communists,the hard-left and Greens, has little chance of succeeding in defeating Barnier's government with this motion, as the far-right National Rally (RN) made clear their MPs would not back it on this occasion.
"I think the situation is serious enough not to bring down this government before it has got going," RN MP Laure Lavalette told France 2 television. "We are going to give the product a chance...We cannot add to the chaos as you (the left) are doing."
A bet for the left
"The existence of this government, in its composition and its orientation, is a negation of the result of the legislative elections," states the motion, which is due to be put forward by Socialist Party (PS) leader Olivier Faure.
The left has also been angered by the hardline stances of the new interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, who has said there should be a referendum on immigration, although he admitted this was not possible under the constitution.
The numbers could still prove embarrassing for the Barnier government at this early stage, if some backing for the motion comes from independents, as expected, and from some dissenting members of Macron's centrist faction, unhappy at the prospect of tax rises.
Barnier's government could be toppled at any moment if a no-confidence motion were passed in the National Assembly lower house of government.
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(with AFP)
