France’s minority government survived a no-confidence vote on Tuesday, two weeks after taking office, getting over the first hurdle placed by left-wing lawmakers to bring down new conservative prime minister Michel Barnier, reports ABC News.
The vote was a key test for Barnier, whose Cabinet is forced to rely on the far right’s good will to be able to stay in power, as the nation grapples with economic challenges exacerbated by global inflation.
The no-confidence motion was brought by a left-wing coalition, the New Popular Front, composed of the hard-left France Unbowed, Socialists, Greens and Communists. It received 197 votes, far from the 289 votes needed to pass.
Following the June-July parliamentary elections, the National Assembly, France’s powerful lower house of parliament, is divided into three major blocs: the New Popular Front, Macron’s centrist allies and the far-right National Rally party. None of them won an outright majority.
The far-right National Rally group, which counts 125 lawmakers, abstained from voting the no-confidence motion. Far-right leader Marine Le Pen, herself a lawmaker, said she decided to “give a chance” to the government for now.