The left-wing vote of no confidence against the French government fails

PARIS (Reuters) – French Prime Minister Michel Barnier passed the first test of his new government on Tuesday after a left-wing vote of no confidence failed to gather enough votes to topple his centre-right government.

President Emmanuel Macron tapped Barnier for the job of prime minister last month after snap elections led to a fractiously hung parliament. Barnier’s government is weak, supported by the far right and despised by left-wing lawmakers who tabled the vote of no confidence last Friday.

The no-confidence vote was always a gamble, as it would require the support of the far-right National Rally (RN) party to cross the line – a step that RN lawmakers had indicated they were unwilling to take.

On Tuesday, 197 lawmakers voted in favor of the motion — well short of the 289 votes needed.

“The motion was not adopted,” said Yael Braun-Pivet, president and speaker of parliament.

All eyes will now be on Barnier’s first budget proposal, which will be unveiled on Thursday and is likely to involve heavy tax increases and spending cuts totaling some 60 billion euros ($65.9 billion) to tackle an ever-expanding to reduce the growing budget deficit.

Passing the budget bill will be the next tough test for Barnier’s upcoming term.

After Barnier laid out his government’s policy blueprint last week, the RN’s Marine Le Pen said she wanted to “give the prime minister a chance.” But she set out red lines, including that any tax increases must be offset by greater purchasing power for the lower and middle classes.

($1 = 0.9112 euros)