This is the response to the use of Article 49.3 of the Constitution to have the pension reform adopted without a vote: two motions of censure were tabled this Friday, March 17 in order to overthrow the government. One is the work of the National Rally. The other, “transpartisan”, is led by the group of independent deputies Liot. Their examination will take place on Monday March 20 at the National Assembly. How does a motion of no confidence work? Can the Borne government really fall? L’Express takes stock of this very politically flavored constitutional mechanism.
What does a motion of censure do?
The motion of censure is a means of control of the government by the National Assembly. Its adoption causes his immediate resignation. It can be “spontaneous” (article 49.2 of the constitution) or “provoked” by the decision of the Prime Minister to engage the responsibility of the government on a text (article 49.3).
In the latter case, the disputed bill is deemed adopted without a vote, unless a motion of censure is passed. The adoption of the motion has two consequences: the text is not adopted – here the pension reform – and the government resigns (article 50).
The President of the Republic must then compose a new government. To resolve the political crisis, he also has the ability to dissolve the National Assembly and call for new legislative elections (article 12). This is a specific power of the Head of State, and not an obligation.
What are the applicable rules?
Several rules govern the motion of censure. The “spontaneous” motion can occur at any time. The “provoked” motion must be tabled within 24 hours of the engagement of the government’s responsibility. A deputy alone cannot table a motion of censure. It must be signed by at least one tenth of the members of the National Assembly, ie 58 deputies. Otherwise, it is inadmissible.
Then comes the vote. It can only take place forty-eight hours after filing. To be adopted, the motion must receive an absolute majority in the National Assembly, currently 287 votes. Only 573 of the 577 seats are currently occupied. Only the votes in favor of the motion of censure are counted. The hostile deputies do not have to move to vote against or abstain, as during the examination of an ordinary law.
Has a motion of censure already been adopted?
pMore than 60 motions of censure have been tabled since the beginning of the Fifth Republic. Only one was adopted: in 1962, 280 deputies out of 480 adopted a spontaneous motion to protest against the project of constitutional revision aimed at electing the resident of the Republic by direct universal suffrage. In response to this vote, General de Gaulle decided to dissolve the National Assembly. The Gaullists will prevail in the legislative elections.
Can motions against the Borne government be adopted?
After recourse to 49.3, two motions will be put to the vote. The first comes from the National Rally. The second, transpartisan, was launched by the independent group Liot. Fifteen elected Liot are the first of the 91 signatories of the text, among which are deputies of Nupes. No LR deputy signed it. In a group meeting, the boss of the LR deputies Olivier Marleix launched a thinly veiled threat of exclusion. “Those who sign a Liot motion are entitled to sit at Liot”, he assured in substance.
The RN motion has no chance of being adopted, the left refusing to vote on a text from the far-right formation. That of Liot, an independent group with no marked political color, is likely to federate the greatest number. What is consensual is unifying. This motion should be voted on by the left, the deputies Liot and the RN.
Once again, LR will take on the role of referee. Thirty LR deputies (out of 61) would have to vote for Liot’s text for the government to fall. The hypothesis is unlikely, even if a few elected LRs should bring their voice to the motion. “There won’t be enough of them to tip the vote,” said a deputy. And for good reason: a small majority of the LR group was ready to vote for the pension reform and all the anti do not want to return to the polls. Emmanuel Macron indeed threatened in September to dissolve the Assembly in the event of the adoption of a motion of censure. Barring a dramatic change, the RN and Liot texts will fail to convince a majority of deputies on Monday.