France PM invokes clause for 23rd time to pass bill without vote

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
20 Dec 2023 08:30

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne has put in a repetitive effort to allow a bill to pass through parliament without a vote by invoking a constitutional clause.

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne arrives to the funeral ceremony for former Lyon mayor Gerard Collomb, Wednesday, November 29, 2023 at the Saint-Jean cathedral in Lyon, central France. (AP)

According to French newspaper Le Parisien, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne has put in the repetitive effort to allow a bill to pass through parliament without a vote, by invoking a constitutional clause - for the 23rd time - and to adopt the national budget for 2024 on Tuesday.

Following the invocation, left-wing populist political party La France Insoumise stated its intention to put forward a vote of no confidence in the government, as the report added that if the vote is rejected, the bill will be considered adopted.

Article 49.3 was invoked last week by Borne for the 22nd time to launch the process of passing the country's 2024 budget bill without a vote.

However, the French National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, announced earlier on Tuesday that it had dismissed a vote of no confidence put in by La France Insoumise and approved the 2024 draft state budget, Le Figaro Politique reported.

"Due to the fact that no vote of no confidence was passed, Part 2 and the entire finance bill are considered adopted in a new reading, applying Article 49.3 of the constitution," the National Assembly said in a post on X, adding that only 110 legislators endorsed the motion of no confidence, falling short of the 289 needed for approval.

✅ #PLF2024 | Aucune motion de censure n'étant adoptée, la 2nde partie et l'ensemble du projet de loi de finances pour 2024 sont considérés comme adoptés en nouvelle lecture, en application de l’article 49.3 de la Constitution.
➡️ https://t.co/69fF33TKeN #DirectAN https://t.co/SxQu7L49KJ
— Assemblée nationale (@AssembleeNat) December 18, 2023

Internal divisions

Last Monday, the French parliament rejected a key immigration proposal from President Emmanuel Macron's administration, leading the prominent Interior Minister to tender his resignation due to the perceived "failure."

At the time, Macron declined Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin's resignation and instructed him to explore alternative strategies to overcome the impasse and advance the contentious immigration bill. The National Assembly's lower house dealt a significant blow to the government by adopting a motion to dismiss the immigration bill without engaging in any debates.

Initially presented by Macron's centrist government, the immigration bill featured a combination of measures to increase the deportation of undocumented individuals and enhance the integration of migrants. However, as it progressed through the right-controlled Senate, the focus of the bill shifted more toward enforcement.

Interior Minister Darmanin defended the bill during his address at the National Assembly, emphasizing its provisions that tighten restrictions on migrants' ability to bring family members into France, birthright citizenship, and access to welfare benefits. Despite Darmanin's appeals, the National Assembly, by a vote of 270 to 265, supported the motion to reject the bill proposed by the Greens.