French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu makes his pitch to remain in post to lawmakers in the National Assembly in Paris on Thursday ahead of two confidence votes, both of which ultimately failed. Photo by Yoan Valat/EPA
Oct. 16 (UPI) -- French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu survived two confidence votes called by opposition parties on the left and the right in the National Assembly.
The votes just 10 days after Lecornu resigned the first time around saw 271 MPs vote for the first no-confidence motion, 18 short of the 289 required, after winning over the center-left Socialists by suspending Macron's flagship pension reforms, raising the retirement age from 62 to 64, while retaining the support of Republicans despite being unhappy about ditching the reforms.
The second confidence vote, a censure motion, unveiled by National Rally's Marine Le Pen immediately after Lecornu named his new cabinet on Sunday, gained only 144 votes after the leftist La France Insoumise party backed down.
"National Rally leader Jordan Bardella attacked MPs who backed Lecornu in the first vote, saying they would be responsible for the suffering that would result.
