Several elected officials from the New Popular Front did not sign the motion of censure. One of them explains having done it out of a spirit of “responsibility”.
Seven deputies are missing. The motion of censure filed by the New Popular Front (NFP) on Monday specifies in its header that it is “presented” by the four left-wing group presidents “and 181 of their colleagues”. That is 185 elected representatives from the Hemicycle in total. However, the four NFP groups have 192 elected officials.
This is because seven of them, although belonging to left-wing groups, have decided not to initial the text which should lead to the overthrow of Michel Barnier's government when it is put to the vote on Wednesday at 4 p.m. . In fact, the National Rally announced that it would add its votes.
Among those who refused to sign the motion of censure, five socialists: Gérard Leseul, Dominique Potier, Valérie Rossi, Hervé Saulignac and Sophie Pantel. The latter, elected from Lozère, justified this to France Bleu on Monday evening: “As a matter of responsibility, I choose not to support an ineffective motion of censure in this context. Current issues require realistic and constructive solutions rather than symbolic gestures which risk aggravating the current crises..
As for Dominique Potier, deputy for Meurthe-et-Moselle, he did not sign because he wanted “that the socialist group has its own motion of censure”with the aim of “say what you are doing the next day so as not to give the feeling of possible chaos”. On the other hand, he announces that he will vote for the motion tabled by the NFP – which he did not sign – unless there is a complete change of heart on the part of Michel Barnier. His colleague Gérard Leseul would be on the same line as him.
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Extremely unfavorable balance of power
The two other elected officials who did not initial the NFP motion of censure sit within the Democratic and Republican Left (GDR) group. One is a member of the French Communist Party, Yannick Monnet, MP for Allier, the other is a New Caledonian MP, Emmanuel Tjibaou, also president of an independence party member of the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front.
The parliamentary groups of La France insoumise and the Ecologists signed as one man the text aimed at overthrowing Michel Barnier and his ministers. But the absence of signature does not necessarily mean absence of vote. Whatever happens, the very few who are reluctant will not be enough to reverse a balance of power extremely unfavorable to the Prime Minister.
In total, the 185 left-wing deputies who signed the motion, to which should in all likelihood be added the 126 RN deputies, constitute an absolute majority of 311 elected officials capable of censoring the Barnier government, which would thus be the first to fall under the influence of this procedure for 62 years.
