The French prime minister, François Bayrou, escaped on Wednesday to a new motion of censure presented by the left thanks to the abstention of the deputies of the extreme right, which joined the centrode -right block on which the Executive is supported.
The 66 socialist deputies had deposited on Monday a motion to denounce the “cultural victories” offered to the extreme right by the government and the “drift” of the Executive towards a “Trumpization.” The motion has obtained 181 votes in favor of the necessary 289.
“We cannot accept that the extreme right inspires the laws or, worse, to dictate them,” the socialists wrote in the text of the motion. “For several weeks, the government, through some of its ministers, has yielded to the sad obsessions of the extreme right, offering unprecedented cultural victories to the National Group [RN por sus siglas en francés]who is supposed to fight. ”
In particular, socialists criticize the use of the expression “Migration Summers”, used several times by Bayrou, as well as several statements made by Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, who has expressed his desire for a new law on immigration even more restrictive .
Actually, the statements of Bayrou and its ministers date from January, at which time the PS leaders negotiated with the government a non -censorship agreement on budgets. Although the statements caused the cancellation of the latest meetings, finally the PS decided not to vote the censorship motions presented by France Insumisa.
The Socialists tried to explain then that the decision was issued by the need for stability and “to give a budget to France.” From getting ahead, the January censorship would not only have caused the resignation of the Executive, but also a blockade to the budgetary texts, as happened in December with the fall of Michel Barnier and his government, when left and extreme right voted together.
Motion of “values”
However, in January the PS announced that they would present their own motion of censure once all the budget legislative texts were definitely approved (on Monday the Senate gave the green light to the last part of the Law on the Social Security Budget).
The motion of censure about “values” is a gesture to mark his disagreement with the government before the voters. Also to claim that the PS is an opposition party and placate a part of its deputies; The socialists were divided among those who advocated prioritizing the stability of the country and those who defended the government and vote with the rest of the leftist forces. Despite internal differences, parliamentarians decided to respect the vote discipline (only six disobeyed and voted censorship).
That is why from the beginning the socialist motion has been interpreted as symbolic. It was taken for granted that the extreme right would not censor the government for imitating its rhetoric, as confirmed by the Lepenist party on Sunday. “We will not vote because the Socialist Party has presented it for a single reason: to question observations of common sense, although insufficient, of the prime minister,” said Deputy Thomas Ménagé, spokesman for the RN Group in the Assembly.
Nevertheless, François Hollande statements This week they aroused discomfort in the socialist group. The former president, today deputy, declared that if the extreme right had decided to support censorship, the PS should refrain so as not to approve his own motion, because “it does not intend to overthrow the government, but to question it.”
The general secretary of the party, Olivier Faure, hastened to underline that Hollande’s statements did not represent the position of the party and described them as “absurd”, considering that the fall of the government would not be any “misfortune” for the country.
Fracture in the left
The socialist strategy of not censoring the government in January to present a motion of censure in February has not placated the criticism of the other leftist parties, particularly France Insumisa. “The motion on immigration policy is of a nameless hypocrisy,” denounced the deputy Lfi éric Coquerel. “In addition to having no risk because they know very well that it will be a fire bullet.”
The decision of the Socialists not to support the motions of France Insumisa in January has placed the Alliance of Progressive Forces in the Assembly (New Popular Front) on the edge of the break, once again. “This non-centers will now produce the effects we already know and that are the reason why its authors have decided this: the NFP is reduced from a game,” wrote Jean-Luc Mélenchon in his blog. However, communists and environmentalists have been less categorical and advocate to maintain unity, despite their disagreement with the PS decision.
Although the approval of the budgets was the main challenge facing the prime minister, the succession of censorship motions underlines the fragility of his government, which depends on the fact that the oppositions of the left and extreme right do not join against him in a vote.
Under these conditions there are many doubts about their ability to move forward with important reforms. At the moment, Bayrou himself has avoided making precise ads about the legislative calendar. In addition, the Head of Government must wait for the result of negotiations between social actors to decide how to address the reform of the Pensions Law approved in 2023 that left and extreme right want to repeal.
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