The Socialist Party will not support a motion of impeachment against the prime minister, its leader, Olivier Faure, announced, a decision that means the French government will survive, overcoming this hurdle.
Voting in the French National Assembly will begin on Thursday afternoon (16/1).
The Socialist Party justified its decision not to vote for the motion of censure saying that in these critical moments for the French economy it chose political stability. He also noted that despite the fact that the Bayrou government did not adopt the amendments proposed by the Socialists in relation to the reform of the French insurance system, there were channels of understanding with the government camp.
The Socialist party’s stance was strongly criticized by its deputies, the party of the radical Left. The leader of the faction, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, said that with his decision to capitulate the Socialist Party is splitting the united Left.
The motion of censure against the government was submitted by Insubordinate France, with the support of the communists and environmentalists.
However, it is noted that the Socialist party has not ruled out the possibility of filing its own motion of censure in the future. The party remains in opposition but “is open to compromise proposals,” Fore said, adding that a vote against the government is “possible at any time.”
On the other hand, the Prime Minister of the country, François Bayrou, stated that, regarding the reform of the insurance system and its effects on the public finances of France, he asked the Court of Auditors to prepare a relevant study, the findings of which he pledged to follow. The president of the Court of Auditors, Pierre Moscovici, a former minister and European commissioner, said that this report would be ready in a few weeks.
Bayrou will now have more time to pass the 2025 budget, which led to the downfall of his predecessor, Michel Barnier. “The choice before us, in this serious situation that our country is experiencing, is between the perpetual internal conflict and trying to find a path that leads to dialogue, compromise, negotiation,” Bayrou said in his speech.
The proposal was expected to be rejected, even narrowly, after Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Alarm signaled it would not support it. But there was a question about the attitude of the Socialists, and Bairou wanted to avoid the possibility of making his government dependent on the National Alarm.
Today’s motion of censure was the 38th since 2022, when Emmanuel Macron was re-elected to the presidency of the French Republic.
