The new French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal faces his first motion of no confidence in the National Assembly on Monday morning, but without much risk, although there is no absolute majority for the government in the chamber.
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This motion, presented by all left-wing factions, has little chance of receiving the 289 votes needed to overthrow the government, since the right and the extreme right have no intention of supporting it in the first place.
The tone of the debates and the reaction of 34-year-old Gabriel Attal to his critics shortly before his departure to Germany, where he will meet Chancellor Olaf Scholz, will therefore be closely examined.
The Left particularly criticizes the Prime Minister, appointed by President Emmanuel Macron at the beginning of January, for not requesting a vote of confidence from the National Assembly after his declaration of principles last Tuesday.
She also accuses Gabriel Attal of wanting to wage a “war on the poor” with his announcements about solidarity allowances and easing of social housing.
Last Tuesday, several speakers in the assembly touched on the new prime minister's youth in the capital's “beautiful neighborhoods” and his education in prestigious institutions.
“You are defending France from the Champs-Élysées roundabout,” criticized the head of the socialist group Boris Vallaud.
The anger of farmers, who dominated French news for several days until the end of last week with nationwide tractor blockades, should also be included in the debates, particularly over the government's concessions on diesel and pesticides.
On the far right, Marine Le Pen indicated that the Rassemblement Nationale would not vote for the motion, nor would the right-wing MPs from the Les Républicains (LR) group.
“We are in opposition, we had no intention of voting for confidence. But voting for censorship before the government has started would not seem very serious to us either,” remarked Olivier Marleix, leader of the LR MPs, on Radio J on Sunday.
Gabriel Attal will try an exercise that had become habitual for former Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne and her 31 no-confidence motions on the clock.
In this National Assembly, which no longer has an absolute majority since the 2022 parliamentary elections, the former head of government was only nine votes short of disapproval in March 2023 in the turbulent environment of an unpopular pension reform.