Rabat – French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu survived two no-confidence votes in parliament on Thursday, securing crucial backing from the Socialist Party after pledging to suspend President Emmanuel Macron’s contested pension reform until after the 2027 presidential election.
The motions, tabled by the far-left France Unbowed and the far-right National Rally (RN), received 271 and 144 votes respectively, well below the 289 needed to topple Lecornu’s days-old government.
The outcome offered temporary relief for Macron’s administration, though it shows the deep political fractures that continue to divide the National Assembly.
Lecornu’s decision to shelve the pension reform, a flagship policy of Macron’s presidency, proved pivotal in gaining Socialist support. The move, however, risks dismantling one of Macron’s core economic legacies as France grapples with mounting public debt and sluggish growth.
RN leader Jordan Bardella condemned the outcome, writing on X that “a majority cobbled together through horse-trading managed today to save their positions, at the expense of the national interest.”
Despite the political turmoil, French bond markets remained stable, with investors having largely anticipated Lecornu’s survival.
A fragile victory amid budget battles
Lecornu now faces difficult negotiations over the 2026 budget, where his fragile majority could again be tested. The prime minister must strike delicate compromises to pass a slimmed-down fiscal plan aimed at reducing France’s deficit while appeasing rival factions in parliament.
“The French need to know that we are doing all this work to give them a budget, because it is fundamental for the future of our country,” said National Assembly president Yael Braun-Pivet, a Macron ally. “I am pleased to see that today there is a majority operating in the spirit of compromise.”
After securing the suspension of the pension reform, the Socialist Party is now pushing for a tax on billionaires in the 2026 budget, an early sign of the leverage smaller parties hold over Lecornu’s weakened government.
The pension reform, raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 by 2030, has long been a political flashpoint. Although it brings France in line with other EU countries, the policy erodes a social safeguard viewed by many as central to the French welfare model.
Reforming pensions has been a recurring challenge for French leaders since 1982, when Socialist President François Mitterrand lowered the retirement age from 65 to 60. Today, France’s average effective retirement age stands at 60.7, well below the OECD average of 64.4.
With Macron halfway through his final term, the battle over pensions and the budget highlights the precarious state of governance in a deeply divided legislature.
Lecornu’s immediate survival may steady the government for now, but the looming budget vote will determine whether his fragile coalition can endure France’s most turbulent political climate in decades.
