French PM survives two no-confidence votes in one day amid budget deadlock

French lawmakers rejected a second no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu’s government in a single day, marking the sixth attempt to bring down the cabinet.

The motions were tabled by the parties La France Insoumise and National Rally after the government invoked Article 49.3 of the French Constitution to pass the 2026 budget bill without parliamentary approval, Caliber.Az reports via French media.

In the second vote, 142 deputies supported the motion, well short of the 288 needed. A previous no-confidence motion on the same issue, initiated by the hard left, had also been defeated.

France has been unable to pass a budget for 2026, prompting Lecornu to invoke a controversial constitutional Article 49.3 – known as the “nuclear option” – on January 20 to break the deadlock.

"When debate no longer allows for a conclusion, someone must take responsibility," he said of the controversial decision ahead of the vote, calling Article 49.3 “an instrument of last resort”.

Lecornu has pledged to maintain the public deficit at 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

No-confidence votes, triggered after Article 49.3 was used to push the budget through, had also ousted his immediate predecessors, François Bayrou and Michel Barnier.

By Jeyhun Aghazada