Censure Motions Following Art 49.3 Coming, But Not Expected To Pass

Censure motions against the French gov't will be put forward in the National Assembly before the 1520CET deadline today, but are not expected to gain the required support to result in the gov'ts ouster. This follows the use on 16 March of Article 49.3 by the administration of President Emmanuel Macron and PM Elisabeth Borne to bypass a parliamentary vote on controversial pension reforms.

• In order for the gov't to fall a majority of the entire 577-member National Assembly must vote in favour of the censure motion, not just a majority of the deputies present. This means that any deputy absences or abstentions effectively works in the gov'ts favour by reducing the number of lawmakers able to vote for the motion.
• The centre-right Les Republicains (LR) remains divided on the issue. Party head Eric Ciotti stated that as with previous censure motions he did not want his deputies to vote in favour, saying that, "We do not want in this context to add chaos to chaos..." Some LR deputies, though, have indicated they will vote forthe motion but it appears improbable that the number will be high enough to defeat the gov't.
• A poll carried out in the aftermath of the Art 49.3 decision showed a significant majority of respondents against the action: Do you think it was a good or bad thing to use the article 49.3 to pass the pension reform ? Good thing: 18 % Bad thing: 82 % Harris Interactive, 16/03/23
• A new united demonstration of trade unions opposed to the pension reforms is scheduled for March 23.