France’s government has survived a confidence vote thanks to the Parti Socialiste’s abstention. While Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu promises to suspend unpopular changes to pensions, unions object that the retirement age hike has merely been delayed.
France’s prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, hung on to power last Thursday after a no-confidence motion against his government failed by just eighteen votes. A majority of Parti Socialiste lawmakers, in theory in the opposition, withheld their votes from the motion, ensuring Lecornu’s survival. Why? Because, they say, Lecornu has agreed to retreat on President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform.
For Lecornu, it was a welcome stay of execution. His first government collapsed almost immediately on Monday, October 6. On Friday that same week,