MOTION OF CENSURE AND 49.3: While the National Assembly has a tool of control of the government, the latter can use a parliamentary weapon to pass in force. Motion of censorship VS 49.3, we enlighten you.
The appointment is set for July 5 by the deputies of insubordinate France. And only by them. While Elisabeth Borne’s general policy speech should take place on this date – if the Prime Minister is still in office – the group will file a motion of censure against the head of government to mark her disapproval. with the political line of Emmanuel Macron. “How do you want her to remain minister?” questioned Eric Coquerel, deputy of Seine-Saint-Denis, he who announced the filing of the motion of censure on the evening of the results of the legislative elections. A legislative weapon that could lead to the overthrow of the government. What is the motion of censure? Who can submit it? What does it entail? The Internet user takes stock and sheds light on this system, which is also involved… when using article 49-3, which the government could draw in the absence of an absolute majority.
What is a motion of censure?
The motion of censure has been a term at the heart of parliamentary news since the end of the legislative elections. Its objective: to lead, in the event of adoption, to the resignation of the Prime Minister as well as of his government. The motion of censure can be spontaneous, directly tabled by deputies. They must be at least 58, or one tenth of the National Assembly. To be adopted, it must collect 289 votes “for”, that is to say the absolute majority of the hemicycle. In the event of a relative majority (a majority of “for” but less than 289), it is not adopted. The motion of censure can also be provoked by the government when it engages its responsibility when using article 49.3 (read below).
Can a motion of censure against the government succeed?
Since the establishment of the Fifth Republic, 58 “spontaneous” motions of censure have been tabled against 20 prime ministers. But only one was adopted, in 1962 (read below). Completing such a procedure is not easy. Indeed, it is a question, for the oppositions, of agreeing on the same text. An already difficult maneuver when they are commonly opposed on a text emanating from the majority, it becomes impossible when one of the main opposition parties is not hostile to the law in question. This is how the vast majority of motions of censure are ultimately not adopted. In July 2018, Les Républicains, but also, with the same voice, the groups Nouvelle gauche, La France insoumise and Gauche democrat et republicaine had tabled a motion of censure against the government of Edouard Philippe after the revelations of the Benalla affair. . But LR had not voted for the motion of censure from the left, which had nevertheless supported that tabled by the right.
A motion of censure had almost succeeded in 1992, against the reform of the common agricultural policy. While François Mitterrand, the President of the Republic, only had a relative majority in the National Assembly, the RPR (ex-UMP and LR) and the centrist parties UDF and UDC had agreed to table a motion of censorship in order to oppose the project. The trio had also been joined by the Communist Party which had voted for the motion of censure, ultimately not adopted by three votes. 286 votes “for” had been collected against the 289 necessary.
Motion of censure: the example of 1962
The motion of censure was passed only once in the history of the Fifth Republic. It was in 1962. While General De Gaulle, then President of the Republic, announced his intention to implement direct universal suffrage in the presidential election. In the National Assembly, the Head of State only has a very relative majority (206 deputies). While the minimum number of votes required is 241, the motion of censure is signed by 280 deputies. Adopted, it leads to the resignation of Georges Pompidou, then Prime Minister… who will be reappointed by General De Gaulle. The latter has indeed refused the resignation of his Prime Minister. In response to the motion of censure, he decided to dissolve the National Assembly… And emerged strengthened by widening his majority to 233 deputies.
What is article 49-3 of the Constitution?
This situation of fragmentation of the Assembly and multiplication of opposition fronts leaves only a relative majority of 245 deputies to the deputies of Together!. This is enough to hinder the reforming impulses of the new government, which will have to convince 44 deputies to sign its bills with it. If the methods of the dissolution of the Assembly and the motion of censure are rarely used, another solution exists. What is this article that the government could use to pass the most divisive texts? This is paragraph 3 of Article 49 of the Constitution, commonly called 49-3, appearing in Title V of the Constitution.
This legal device is used to regulate the “relationships between the government and the Parliament”. The Prime Minister is the person who can make use of it after deliberation by the Council of Ministers. It is then possible to suspend the examination of a particularly controversial bill within the National Assembly, and therefore of all the negotiations that accompany it, by engaging the responsibility of its government before the deputies. This would allow the presidential camp to pass a text subject to the commitment of its responsibility: in this, its advantages are multiple. On the one hand, it allows him to force the adoption of a text even if the parliament is reluctant on it. On the other hand, it makes it possible to speed up the legislative procedure, and in particular to put an end to any obstruction by parliamentarians. A solution of last resort therefore, but whose use is very supervised.
How can Emmanuel Macron use 49.3 today?
Since the constitutional reform of July 23, 2008 (promulgated in 2009), the use of this device is largely limited. If it is still valid for all bills, it can only be used at the rate of one text per parliamentary session, except for the finance or social security financing bill. Thus, if it has been used 87 times since 1959, it was mostly before this revision of the law since at the time, the government could use it as often as it wanted and on any text. . And today, with only 249 elected, the presidential camp is taking a big risk by using this text.
In fact, if the bill is considered adopted once the government has assumed its responsibility, there remains the risk of a motion of censure being tabled by the opposition deputies. It allows them to react to the government’s coup by overthrowing it. In paragraph 42 of article 49, it is specified that this motion is “voted under the conditions provided for in the preceding paragraph”, and that it must be filed within the following twenty-four hours. Above all, it can only be validated if 1/10 of elected officials sign it, which represents 58 seats. To date, no government has suffered such a motion after having used the 49-3.