Emmanuel Macron’s government survived two no-confidence votes brought by opposition lawmakers on Monday over hugely unpopular pension reforms.
The poll in the National Assembly on Monday was triggered by the head of state raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 without a parliamentary vote.
The no-confidence motion filed by a small group called Liot garnered support from 278 members of parliament in the National Assembly, falling short by only 9 votes, an unexpectedly close result. A separate one filed by Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party only received 94 votes because other opposition parties remain wary of teaming up with the far-right party.
The no-confidence motions were the result of Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne triggering the 49.3 clause of the French constitution last week, passing the draft law without a parliamentary vote. Now that the motions have failed, the pensions reform raising the retirement age by two years to 64 can be adopted and the Borne government will remain in place.
Soon after the vote, small groups of protesters gathered around parliament and clashed with police.
