The French Assembly rejects by a large majority the motion of censure presented by the Left

The National Assembly of France has rejected this Monday with a large majority the motion of censure presented by New Popular Ecologist and Social Union (NUPES) against the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, who has already reproached that the vote had a merely “obstructionist” character.

The vote resulted in 146 votes in favor of Borne’s expulsion, far short of the 289 votes needed for the lower house of the French Parliament to give the ‘green light’ to the motion of censure and overthrow the newly appointed head of government.

In fact, the expectation that the motion of censure would go ahead was so low that even the spokeswoman of the parliamentary group of France Insoumise — one of the members of the NUPES coalition –, Mathilde Panot, acknowledged that the vote was aimed at “clarifying” the political positions of each formation.

Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) and The Republicans (LR) had already advanced that they would vote against the NUPES proposal and, in fact, RN branded the motion of censure as a “buffoonery” of the French left, according to the BMFTV television channel.

During the debate on the censure motion, Prime Minister Borne has reproached the left for its “obstructionist” attitude. “The French need a government that acts, but some have only one obsession: to censure it,” Borne has argued.

“Today, ladies and gentlemen deputies, we could be doing things for the French people. Instead, we are debating a motion of censure that obstructs the parliamentary work and therefore the will of the French people,” he added.

Meanwhile, Panot has affirmed those who do not support the motion of censure are the “supporters” of pension reform policies and the “politics of social injustice”, a dart aimed at the party The Republicans, a conservative party, but which is formally in opposition to the Borne government and President Emmnuel Macron, and the ultra-right National Rally party.

Political analysts had highlighted the vote as an avenue through which the left could show itself united and as the first choice of opposition to President Macron’s government despite the fact that after the recent presidential elections the main opposition force numerically is National Rally.