March 2023 French votes of no confidence

Two motions of no confidence in the minority government of Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne were tabled on 17 March 2023 in the French National Assembly.

One motion was proposed by a cross-party alliance that included the left-wing NUPES and the regionalist LIOT (introduced by Bertrand Pancher and defended by Charles de Courson); the other by the right-wing populist National Rally (introduced by Marine Le Pen and defended by Laure Lavalette). The two motions were introduced in response to the government's use of constitutional article 49.3 to pass a controversial law that raised the retirement age from 62 to 64. On 20 March, both motions were voted down. The cross-party motion failed by a margin of 9 votes, the slimmest since 1990.

The National Rally (RN) voted in favour of both motions, while the majority of The Republicans (LR) deputies did not vote in favour of either one.

Text of motions

Cross-party motion

The Government has decided to make use of Article 49 paragraph 3 of the Constitution on the draft law concerning financing of Social Security for 2023 and pension reform. This decision is the culmination of an opposition to democracy that is unacceptable in its constancy and contempt for our institutions and our social bodies. The fact this pension reform was introduced through a draft law concerning financing of Social Security proves a manifest and unprecedented misuse of parliamentary procedure and of Article 47-1 of our Constitution. A social security-financing bill, intended to make only marginal adjustments to the social security financing law previously passed during the fiscal year, cannot be used to alter one of the major components of our social contract. If this method were to become common practice, it would set a dangerous precedent that would allow governments to push through sweeping social reforms through the backdoor, using coercion and procedures dangerous to our democracy. The Government has therefore chosen to bypass our institutions in order to adopt an unjust reform that did not enjoy the support of the population while the opinion of Parliament was not taken into account. The spirit of the Constitution has clearly been hijacked here, which is why the opinion of the Council of State, warning of the constitutional risks induced by this bill and measures that had nothing to do with it, was deliberately not transmitted to the people’s representatives. The application of Article 47-1 of the Constitution has imposed a tight 50 days deadline on the time allotted for debate on this measure, making it impossible to have a calm and in-depth discussion on this subject. As a result, the National Assembly considered only the first two articles. Moreover, it rejected Article 2 by a large margin. And yet, the latter was included in the text transmitted to the Senate by the Government. In the end, this bill was never backed by the National Assembly. It has no parliamentary legitimacy. Even the debates in the Senate have been constrained by the use of blocked voting under Article 44 paragraph 3 of our Constitution. No sincere lover of democracy attached to the Republic can accept the imposition of such hasty conditions on the examination on a bill that will have a strong impact on the lives of millions of our countrymen for decades. The same method based on haste was employed during the semblance of prior consultation with the social partners. The Social Republic, as defined in Article I of our Constitution, has been flouted. But above all, how can we want to force through a reform that reaps massive opposition from the population? This pension reform project has neither social legitimacy, nor popular legitimacy, nor democratic legitimacy. That is why, in accordance with the provisions of Article 49 paragraph 3 of the Constitution and of Articles 153 et seq. of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly, we, the Deputies, have tabled this motion of censure.

National Rally motion

The Prime Minister having chosen to resort to Article 49, paragraph 3 of the Constitution to adopt an unjust and unnecessary reform, that of raising the age of retirement by two years, we, the members of the National Rally Group, have decided to make use of the provisions of Article 49 paragraph 3 of the Constitution and of the Rules 153 et seq. of the Standing Orders of the National Assembly to censure the government. While the French are massively demonstrating their opposition to this reform, the people's representatives were not, at any time, able to vote on this text, which is, despite the legality of the process, a serious attack on democratic principles. That is why we have tabled this motion of censure so that this iniquitous reform is not adopted.

Results

Cross-party motion of no confidence

Motion of no confidence by the RN

Notes

References