Counting Sheep: French Government Faces Second No Confidence Vote in Six Months

Second No Confidence Vote in Six Months

In spite of the fact the Socialist party holds a majority of just 1 in the 577-seat lower house, French prime minister Manual Valls hopes to stabilize things with a Second No Confidence Vote in Six Months.

Mr Valls could see a narrowing of his majority compared with the vote when he was first appointed prime minister at the end of March after a big socialist loss in local elections. Then he won by a margin of 306 votes to 239 against, with 26 abstentions.

“Valls is politically and economically archaic. He is taking solutions from (Tony) Blair and (Gerhard) Schroeder that don’t work any more,” Pascal Cherki, a leftwinger who abstained in the previous confidence vote in April, told RMC radio.

But the government has support from within other leftwing parties. Mr Valls is also betting that socialist rebels would not want to cause the downfall of the government, as this would trigger legislative elections and almost certain defeat for the socialists.

A win for the government would also not erase uncertainty as it will be closely followed by the presentation of the 2015 budget to parliament next month, which economists are concerned could face a delay in approval amid political upheaval.

Opinion polls underscore the sense of leadership crisis in the eurozone’s second-largest economy. One last week showed 62 per cent of electors wanted Mr Hollande to step down before his term ends in 2017.