After ramming the government’s budget proposal through the National Assembly without a vote, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne avoided parliamentary censure in a vote that took place early on Saturday morning.
The left-wing Nupes alliance filed the 18th motion of censure against Borne since she took office after the prime minister invoked Article 49.3 to pass the public budget measure without a vote.
Just 193 of the 289 votes required for the motion to pass were obtained, which is an expected result given the centre-right’s opposition.
The Senate, the upper house of the French parliament, will now consider the 2023–2027 budget plan when it is rejected.
The speaker for Nupes, socialist Philippe Brun, accused the government of “favouring with the greatest servility a very well-endowed minority of the French” despite “an immense inflationary crisis”.
President Emmanuel Macron had “tried to make parliament disappear with his repeated (use of) 49.3”, Brun added.
The far right had supported the left’s motion of censure, accusing Borne of the “repeated and abusive use of 49.3”.
Borne responded by calling out both camps, saying, “Your only course of action is demagoguery.”
Additionally, the administration used Article 49.3 earlier this year to enact controversial pension reforms, setting up violent demonstrations.
