French pension reform: No-confidence motion
strives for broad support in Assemblée Nationale
Introduced in reaction to the forced passage of the
pension reform, the proposal that could lead to the dissolution of the
government must be backed by at least 28 right-wing MPs.
By
Alexandre Pedro , Julie Carriat , Clément Guillou and Mariama Darame
Published
on March 20, 2023 at 11h34, updated at 11h34 on March 20, 2023
Until
recently, LIOT – for Liberté, indépendants, outre-mer et territoires – was an
acronym known only to those familiar with the French Assemblée Nationale: MPs,
parliamentary assistants and journalists. Composed of elected representatives
from the French overseas territories, centrists and Socialists who refused to
join the leftist Nouvelle Union Populaire Ecologique et Sociale (NUPES), this
umbrella group will have its 15 minutes of fame on Monday, March 20. The
cross-party no-confidence vote it is putting forward could radically change the
course of President Emmanuel Macron's second five-year term, at least in
theory.
In 1793,
Louis-Michel Lepeletier de Saint-Fargeau voted for the death of the king. 230
years later, his distant descendant, Charles de Courson, the motion's first
signatory, is trying to unite the various opposition forces to topple the
government of Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, who used Article 49.3 of the
Constitution to forcefully pass through the pension reform without a vote.
"Everyone knows that the RN [Rassemblement National, extreme right] motion
will have 88 votes [the number of RN MPs], not one more," said the MP in
an interview with Le Point. "Ours is across the political spectrum. We
think it can bring together the right, the left, the center, the moderates..."
On the side
of the NUPES, de Courson and his allies are being allowed to lead the charge.
La France Insoumise (LFI, left) has decided not to file its own motion in order
to favor LIOT's, which is believed to have broader support. But to reach the
magic number of 289 MPs, which is the absolute majority, it is not enough to
bring in the NUPES and RN groups and to attract two or three independent MPs. Socialist
MP Philippe Brun is focusing on a specific group of fellow lawmakers: the
elected representatives of Les Républicains (LR, right). "It's quite
simple: It would take 28 LR to vote in favor of the motion," said Brun.
"This appears to be a very ambitious goal, as no LR is a signatory, but
we'll see on Monday."
Take revenge
And this is
how the group that was coddled (in vain) by the government for weeks, in the
hopes of voting in favor of the reform, has since Friday (when the motion was
introduced) been receiving appeals from both the RN and the left to help them
overthrow this same government. Green group president and MP Cyrielle Chatelain
said, "All members of Parliament who do not want this reform to go through
should vote for this motion, including LR."
To entice
right-wing elected representatives, the RN vice president of the Assemblée,
Sébastien Chenu, published an ad on Leboncoin (a resale site) with the title:
"Looking for 27 Les Républicains MPs ready to vote for a motion of no
confidence." The number and the method change, but the idea is still to
motivate these LR members, frustrated at not being able to vote against the
reform, to take their revenge with this motion.
To give
some credence to their campaign, the promoters of the no-confidence motion are
relying on unofficial figures from Thursday morning that 20 or so elected representatives,
who planned to vote against the reform, were the reason for Prime Minister
Borne's choice to use Article 49.3. But even with a high estimate of 25,
according to figures from BFM-TV, the count is not there and even some against
the reform have never wanted to go so far as to dissolve the government.
"It is the last link of loyalty that binds me to this group: not to vote
for a motion of no confidence of which we are not the signatories,"
confided one of them.
For the MP,
the issue has been settled since a meeting on Thursday afternoon following the
announcement of resorting to Article 49.3 – in an internal vote, it was decided
not to present a motion on behalf of the group. But in practice, nothing
prevents some people from voting for another group's motion. But Olivier
Marleix, president of the LR group at the Assemblée, and LR party president,
Eric Ciotti, have warned of the consequences for those who cross the Rubicon.
For the
moment, the number of LR who have been won over by this venture, with the
prospect of the government being dissolved and a risky return to the polls, can
be counted on two hands. In the RN camp, we know the figures and even the names
of those involved, but this does not prevent the president of the party, Jordan
Bardella, from daring to make a bargain: the promise, in the event of early
legislative elections, not to run RN candidates against LR members willing to
vote for their motion. The proposal was enough to upset the leader of LR
lawmakers. "The RN reveals that it is only looking after its own
interests. It's far from the greater interest of the nation!" said
Marleix, in an interview with Le Figaro.
'Can't let this pass'
But this
threat was not enough to intimidate Aurélien Pradié. Hardly nostalgic for his
title of LR number two, which he lost in February due to his repeated
insubordination, the MP announced on Monday morning on Europe 1 radio that he
would vote for the motion of no confidence. And he estimated that about 15 of
his LR counterparts are ready to do the same. This is the case of Ian Boucard,
Pierre Cordier and Fabien Di Filippo. Di Filippo showed his hand on Thursday:
"Nobody can believe that such an important reform can be implemented
without ever having been voted in the Assemblée. I can't let this pass."
The message
seems to have been heard. "If the motion succeeds, President Macron must
call the leader of the main opposition group to the prime minister's
office," said MP Jean-Pierre Taite. "Now, I do not want to see [left
leader] Jean-Luc Mélenchon become prime minister, nor [far right leader] Marine
Le Pen." Before it comes to that, Macron would have to dissolve the
Assemblée Nationale and call for early legislative elections. The result of
these elections would determine the person chosen to become prime minister.
Whatever
happens, by its mere existence, this cross-party motion of no confidence
highlights the divisions within the right wing of Parliament. But because one
can never be too careful, Borne will still count the LR lawmakers before the vote
on Monday afternoon. The head of government and her advisers are getting used
to this.
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