The National Assembly, the first chamber of the French parliament, rejected, on Monday afternoon, the two motions of no-confidence submitted against the government of Emmanuel Macron, which received “only” 278 and 94 votes against 9 votes and 193 fewer votes. Of those necessary to overthrow the government.
La Francia Insumisa (LFI), the far-left, PS, PCF and environmentalists decided on Saturday to join their motion to censure another proposal by the LIOT group (Libertades, Independientes, Overseas and Territories), to give more power. for one joint movement. This was the first motion rejected: it received only 278 votes, 9 votes too few.
As for the second motion of no confidence, put forward by the National League (the far right), Marine Le Pen’s party, it received only 94 votes, 193 fewer votes than necessary.
This parliamentary opposition, from far left to far right, has a total of 260 seats. To win, a motion of no confidence needs 287 votes in favor, as opposed to 577 seats. They only got 278 and 94 votes, 9 and 193 votes too few. Macron’s government is being saved by “poetry”. The president does not have an absolute majority. Nor is there a majority in the opposition
The conservative opposition, Los Republicanos (left, right traditional), has 61 seats. Before the no-confidence vote, that parliamentary group was seriously divided, even though it ended up favoring Macron and avoiding censorship. About twenty Conservative MPs would have voted for censure. The traditional right is going through a serious identity crisis, oscillating between Macron and Marine Le Pen, without fully defining itself.
Macron’s “Ennahda” party holds 165 seats. With their centrist allies, divided into two groups, they have a total of 245 seats. You can continue to judge With many problems and flammable. They are also divided.
The rejection of the motions emphasized the blame for a political landscape and a social reality that was extremely difficult to control and unpredictable.
74% of the French wanted Macron to be censured. 70% of French people have a bad or very bad opinion of their boss. But there is no parliamentary majority to vote for censure or to present itself as an alternative. The president and his government face the danger of siege, paralysis and stalemate.
The president has a relative majority of 245 seats. However, the crisis opened up serious crises in the government, the presidential party, the allies, and among the conservative opposition.
It is a highly fragmented political landscape unprecedented in the history of the Fifth Republic. It is necessary to return to the great crises of the Fourth Republic to find France thus divided in all spheres of social, cultural and political life.
Parliamentary rejection of motions of censure may prolong the underlying crisis.
Grievance before the Constitutional Commission
The parliamentary opposition submits an appeal to the Constitutional Court and proposes holding a spopular initiative referendum. Initiatives that could delay the entry into force of the pension reform approved by decree are explosive.
For its part, the unions called for a new day of strike and demonstrations next Thursday. A bigger or smaller crowd will be an accurate indicator of how the underlying crisis will develop. The strike at the refineries raised the specter of fuel shortages at gas stations. In Paris, strikes by street sweepers and cleaning services exacerbate the grim and stinking landscape of national crisis.
The vast majority of French people hope that the head of state will end up addressing the nation with an official address. The presidential silence exacerbates the uncertainty and tension. A few minutes after it became known that the motions of no confidence had been rejected, “spontaneous” protests flared up in Paris and many provincial cities.
The Interior Ministry expected a night of protests and tension. The areas around the Avenue des Champs-Elysées and the Place de la Concorde, where Louis XVI was murdered in 1793, are cordoned off with an impressive presence of riot police. A short hour after the motions of no confidence were rejected, demonstrators appeared in the same square, holding banners that read: “Louis XVI was killed by guillotine. Macron, the battle is not over.” In the “radical chic” neighborhood of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, a stone’s throw from the Ralph Lauren luxury department store, there were signs reading: “Macron, killer.” In front of the Esplanade des Invalides, where Napoleon is buried, several thousand demonstrators staged a series of impromptu rallies, demanding the resignation of the government.
This verbal violence is an elliptical but “educational” reflection of a deep tension that has many sides. The Home Office and union spokespeople on Monday night agreed with the same analysis: “We risk radicalizing the street protests.”
