PARIS (Reuters) – French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou on Wednesday survived two no-confidence votes in parliament, paving the way for the adoption of a much-delayed 2025 budget seen as key to cutting France’s crippling debts.
The no-confidence votes had been called for by the hard left, but were doomed to fail after the far-right National Rally and centre-left Socialists did not back the motions.
In total, 128 lawmakers voted in favour of the first motion and 122 in favour of the second motion, well short of the 289 votes that were needed.
Far-left lawmakers had introduced the two no-confidence motions against the prime minister after he invoked special constitutional powers to force through the 2025 budget.
The tool, known as Article 49.3, allows the minority government to pass the legislation without a parliamentary vote.
Both the National Rally and the Socialist Party had signalled ahead of the votes that they would not support the motion because France needed a budget, though the Socialists said they would at a later date introduce a separate no-confidence motion over recent comments by Bayrou about immigration.
Bayrou had said that many French people feel “submerged” by immigration, which he has since defended even as it briefly derailed budget talks. That motion too is likely to fail.
France has been embroiled in political instability since President Emmanuel Macron decided to call a surprise snap election in June, a move that delivered a fractious hung parliament in which no single party holds a majority.
Wrangling over the budget has rattled markets and toppled the government of Bayrou’s predecessor, Michel Barnier, after only three months. Bayrou’s government, in turn, has survived due to expensive concessions to the left and far-right to advance the legislation.
“This budget is not perfect. It is an emergency step as our country cannot live without a budget,” Bayrou told lawmakers ahead of the vote.
Meanwhile Finance Minister Eric Lombard said the failure of the no-confidence motion was “a good thing” for France.
The budget aims to reduce the deficit, raise taxes on large firms and the wealthy, and cut spending.
(Reporting by Makini Brice, Dominique Vidalon and Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Nia Williams)
