French government on the brink of collapse as PM Lecornu faces two no-confidence votes

With the left and far-right united against him, freshly reappointed PM Sébastien Lecornu faces the prospect of his government's collapse.

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu faces two separate no-confidence votes on Thursday that could topple his government and force President Emmanuel Macron to call snap elections.The National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, will vote on motions filed by the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) and the far-right National Rally (RN), led by Marine Le Pen.Both groups are hoping to bring down Lecornu’s fragile government, less than a week after Macron controversially reappointed the prime minister after he had resigned.If Lecornu loses, Macron could have no other choice but to dissolve the parliament rather than choose another prime minister — a decision that could once again plunge France into unpredictable political territory.The National Rally, which already holds the largest number of seats in Parliament, believes it is well-positioned to make further gains if fresh elections are called.“The National Rally awaits the day of dissolution with growing impatience. We can’t wait to return the ballots before the French people,” Le Pen said in her speech on Thursday morning.Le Pen and her right-wing ally Éric Ciotti submitted their censure motion shortly after Lecornu unveiled his new cabinet on Sunday. The hard-left LFI filed its own motion on Monday.Tensions inside the National Assembly reached a boiling point Thursday morning as Lecornu faced constant heckling during the debate, forcing Speaker Yaël Braun-Pivet to repeatedly restore order.A risky numbers gameTo bring down the government, at least 289 of the 577 MPs in the National Assembly must back one of the motions.The RN and its allies have 139 seats while LFI holds 71. An additional 38 MPs from the Greens and other left-wing factions have said they will support the motion, with Communist lawmakers, who hold 17 seats, expected to do the same.This brings the result to approximately 265 votes. Even together, the opposition still lacks several dozen votes to topple Lecornu.Macron’s centrists hope that neither the Socialists (69 seats) nor the conservative Republicans (approximately 50 seats) will join the push to oust the government, meaning just a handful of defections could prove decisive.Some Socialists have hinted they might break ranks, despite party leader Olivier Faure’s call for unity.In a last-ditch attempt to win over wavering moderate left-wing lawmakers, Lecornu announced on Tuesday that he would suspend Macron’s unpopular pension reform, which gradually raised the retirement age from 62 to 64.The details, however, remain unclear. On Wednesday, Lecornu said the suspension would come as an amendment to the social security budget rather than through a new law. That distinction could prove crucial for this Thursday's vote.If Lecornu survives, parliament will finally turn its attention to the 2026 budget, a key test for the EU’s second-largest economy.The Finance Committee is expected to begin work on Monday, before the draft reaches parliament by the end of next week.Lecornu has pledged not to invoke Article 49.3, the controversial constitutional tool that allows the government to bypass a vote, setting the stage for a bitter battle among a fragmented National Assembly.