In France, 66 socialist deputies decided not to support the vote of no confidence against the government of Prime Minister François Bayrou.
The decision was made after several hours of discussion at a group meeting on Wednesday afternoon in the National Assembly, where the overwhelming majority of participants voted against supporting the vote of no confidence.
“We were uncertain about our position until the last moment, trying to get more from the government,” said one of the group members.
The position was to be ratified by the Socialist Party’s highest executive body on Thursday morning. However, several members of the National Bureau, which has the final say, disagreed with this decision.
By refusing to vote in favor of the no-confidence motion proposed by their allies from the New Popular Front, the Socialists face criticism from the far-left France Insoumise, the Communists, and the Greens.
Leader of the far-left France Insoumise, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, warned on Tuesday evening that any deputy who does not vote for the no-confidence motion will face a candidate from his political movement in their district during the next parliamentary elections.
Over the past few days, Socialist leaders have worked to present themselves as a “government party” capable of making compromises. This stance allowed the Socialists to secure several concessions from Bayrou’s government, including the opening of a social conference on pension issues, the discussion of a tax on large estate optimizations, the cessation of the delisting of medications, and the preservation of 4,000 teaching positions.
