French govt survives no
A French flag flies over the National Assembly on the day of debates and votes on two motions of no-confidence against the French government. [Photo/Agencies]
PARIS - Two no-confidence motions against the French government failed to convince a majority in the National Assembly after hot debates followed by narrow votes on Monday afternoon.
It means the government's unpopular pension reform bill is considered as adopted without vote in the lower house of Parliament. French President Emmanuel Macron now has 15 days to enact the law.
The first multiparty motion, filed by the centrist opposition group LIOT, gained 278 votes among the deputies, only nine votes short of the 287 required to topple Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne's government.
The second motion, tabled by the far-right National Rally party, only got 94 votes.
The French National Assembly is composed of 577 seats, but since there are currently four vacancies, the number of votes required to reach a majority is 287.
Borne on Thursday triggered an article of the country's Constitution that allows the government to force passage of the controversial pension reform bill without a vote in the National Assembly.
Following the results of the two no-confidence motions, France's largest union, the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), has called for "amplifying the mobilization" and "participating massively in the rolling strikes and the demonstrations" on March 23.
Tensions also rose across France. Demonstrations in Paris and Lille were dispersed by the police with tear gas.
According to Paragraph 3 of Article 49 of the French Constitution, the prime minister may, after consulting with the Council of Ministers, impose the adoption of a bill by the National Assembly without a vote. The only way for the National Assembly to veto this is to pass a no-confidence motion against the government.
The prime minister laid out details of the pension reform plan in January, under which the legal retirement age would be progressively raised by three months a year from 62 to 64 by 2030, and a guaranteed minimum pension would be introduced.
Under the plan, as of 2027, at least 43 years of work would be required to be eligible for a full pension.
Related articles
Biden says Brown v. Board of Education ruling was about more than education
WASHINGTON (AP) — The landmark 1954 Supreme Court ruling that desegregated schools was about more th2024-05-21DeLuca stays hot with homer and 4 RBIs as Rays beat Clevinger and White Sox 8
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Jonny DeLuca continued his hot stretch with a homer and four RBIs, and t2024-05-21Beyonce puts on a cheeky display in bottom
Beyoncé put on a bold display in her latest jaw-dropping Instagram post on Sunday.The 42-year-old si2024-05-21Australian woman denies murdering her former husband's relatives with poisonous mushroom lunch
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A woman accused of serving her ex-husband’s family poisonous mushrooms p2024-05-21Cruise worker 'murders newborn son on board ship': Shocked co
A cruise worker on board an Italian ship 'murdered her newborn son' as horrified co-workers raised t2024-05-21China's smartphone shipments reach 69.3 mln units in Q1
BEIJING, May 4 (Xinhua) -- China's smartphone shipments grew by 6.5 percent year on year to 69.3 mil2024-05-21
atest comment