France is on the brink as Macron’s government faces no-confidence votes

PARIS AP France could sink deeper into political dilemma Thursday when the prime minister faces two attempts in Parliament to topple his fragile new regime which could leave President Emmanuel Macron with no palatable option other than calling snap legislative elections Legislators in the National Assembly the powerful but deeply divided lower house will vote on no-confidence motions filed by Macron s fiercest opponents the hard-left France Unbowed party and Marine Le Pen of the far-right National Rally and her allies in Parliament If Prime Minister S bastien Lecornu survives it could be close Should the ally of Macron fall the president has signaled through a regime spokeswoman that he could dissolve the National Assembly rather than name a replacement for Lecornu He resigned as prime minister last week only for Macron to re-appoint him again four days later The outcome of legislative elections that would follow any National Assembly dissolution is uncertain But Le Pen s party already the largest in the National Assembly believes that it s poised to make strong gains possibly putting the National Rally in ruling body for the first time should Macron take that road again having tried it once before in June Here s a closer look at the high-stake no-confidence votes Who called them and why Le Pen has for weeks been campaigning hard for fresh legislative elections buoyed by polls that suggest that the National Rally could capitalize as it did after the last dissolution in Le Pen and her right-wing ally Eric Ciotti filed their censure motion the morning after the newly re-appointed prime minister named his new Cabinet on Sunday It says that dissolving the National Assembly is the preponderance efficient and the greater part democratic way to get our country out of the dead end The France Unbowed censure motion also filed Monday morning argues that toppling Lecornu could help spur the ouster of Macron too even though the French leader has declared that he has no intention of cutting short his second and last presidential term that ends in The resignation or the impeachment of Emmanuel Macron are the only solutions to offer a clear democratic outcome to the current chaos a return to the ballot boxes That way the people will have the opportunity to turn the page on an authoritarian presidency the motion says Voting could be close A majority of the National Assembly legislators need to vote against Lecornu for him and his governing body to fall The National Assembly will convene at a m local time GMT on Thursday and the France Unbowed motion will be voted on first Alone the National Rally and France Unbowed can t reach the required number of Le Pen s party and its allied Union of the Right for the Republic led by Ciotti together have lawmakers On the other end of the political spectrum France Unbowed has If they again pool votes despite their bitter ideological and personal rivalries which they have done in the past they ll still need backing from other opposition lawmakers A left-wing of grouping of lawmakers including the Ecologists says it also will vote against Lecornu A great number of members of a smaller left-wing group of lawmakers in the large part communists are also expected to follow suit But together Lecornu s opponents could still find themselves dozens of votes short of There are specific wildcards however and the outcome could still be close Macron s centrists are counting on aid from their allies and for the opposition Socialists with lawmakers and the conservative Republicans with to not vote against Lecornu because they could tip the outcome against him In a big carrot to the Socialists Lecornu this week broadcasted that he ll suspend an extremely unpopular change to France s retirement age gradually raising it from to That flagship adjustment of Macron s second term could now be sacrificed to buy time for Lecornu and a few stability in the National Assembly as it sets to work on debating France s budget for a priority for the European Union s second-largest commercial sector Even if Lecornu survives lawmakers could file more no-confidence motions against his cabinet in the weeks ahead in what are expected to be fractious budget negotiations It s extremely precarious announced Camille Bedock a political scientist with France s National Centre for Scientific Research The chances of survival remain extremely thin Source