PARIS, Jan 11 (Reuters) – The French Socialist party will not vote in favour of two no-confidence motions filed by far-right and far-left opposition parties over France’s failure to block the EU’s Mercosur trade deal, its leader said on Sunday, giving some breathing space to the country’s fragile government.
“It would be absurd to censure the government on Mercosur,” Olivier Faure told BFM TV. The Mercosur deal- 25 years in the works – is between the EU and the Mercosur group of South American countries.
Analysts had said last week that approval chances of these motions were few, especially the one filed by the far-right National Rally (RN), the biggest party in the National Assembly, as left-wing parties never vote for any of its initiatives.
Still, the threats underline the political tightrope Macron’s administration continues to walk just over a year before the 2027 presidential election, with polls showing the RN has a shot at victory next year.
LECORNU SAYS HIS FIGHT IS FOR STABILITY
Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu wants neither censure nor dissolution of the National Assembly, Le Parisien newspaper reported on Saturday.
At the same time, his office announced it had asked the Interior Ministry to prepare for possible legislative elections on the same dates as municipal elections, on March 15 and 22, in the event of his government’s collapse.
“Let’s be clear. I want neither censure, nor dissolution. My fight is for stability and to ward off disorder,” Lecornu told Le Parisien.
“The motion of no-confidence would send a dramatic signal at a time when we are seeking compromise and an even more dramatic message in view of the international political situation,” he told the daily newspaper, after denouncing “cynical partisan posturing” in a message on X on Friday.
Lecornu said the no confidence motions sent a negative signal abroad. They will be put to the vote early next week while budget talks are supposed to resume Tuesday.
Over the weekend, a parliamentary committee rejected the budget bill in its present form, another sign of the uphill struggle the government is facing to secure the euro zone’s second-largest economy a working budget.
The government has invited parties except RN and the hard-left France Unbowed to a last-resort meeting at the finance ministry to find a deal on the budget.
“There is a meeting tomorrow … with those who are willing to discuss … I hope for a compromise,” Faure said.
(Reporting by Jean-Stephane Brosse and Benoit Van Overstraeten; Editing by David Holmes)
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