No absolute majority in the Assembly for the Macron camp, narrow victory of the Prime Minister in the legislative elections… The government is weakened by recent political events. On July 5, 2022, however, Elisabeth Borne will have to deliver her general policy statement (DPG) before the National Assembly. This speech, which does not constitute a constitutional obligation, is a republican tradition of the Fifth Republic.
This speech consists, for the head of government, of presenting the main orientations of his programs, reforms and measures that he intends to carry out. According to article 49 paragraph 1 on the calling into question of the responsibility of the government, “the Prime Minister, after deliberation of the Council of Ministers, engages before the National Assembly the responsibility of the government on its program or possibly on a declaration of policy general”.
It is also customary for Elisabeth Borne to submit to a vote of confidence in the Assembly, as Olivier Faure, First Secretary of the Socialist Party, reminds us. Quoted by TF1, he declares: “Republican logic is that a Prime Minister who has just been appointed must come and draw his legitimacy from the anointing of parliamentarians. So it would be logical for Madame Borne to come to explain herself , and depending on what she says, obtain or not the confidence of a majority in the Assembly”.
As a reminder, a vote of confidence is the vote of a parliament by which the deputies decide, or not, to grant their confidence to the government. The vote is generally positive, the government often having an absolute majority in the Assembly… Which is no longer the case since the last results of the legislative elections.
Will the former Minister of Labor seek the confidence of the Assembly?
At the microphone of LCI, the Prime Minister confided “not yet to have decided this point”. Preferring to say “to action”, it therefore seems that Elisabeth Borne is not “assured of obtaining a vote of confidence if she submits her government to it after her general policy speech”, as BFMTV writes. For the time being, there is no indication that the head of government is submitting to a vote of confidence on July 5… Which could lead to a motion of censure on the same date. Explanations.
What would happen if Elisabeth Borne decided not to submit her government to a vote of confidence? La France insoumise declared that it wished to table a motion of censure against the government, a tool provided for in article 49 of the Constitution. If adopted, the motion of censure results in the resignation of the Prime Minister and his government.
To table a motion of censure, the signature of one tenth of the members of the hemicycle, ie 58 deputies, is required. For the motion of censure to be adopted, however, it must be voted by an absolute majority, ie 289 deputies. According to information from the Journal du Dimanche, this is far from won, this decision having “little chance of being voted on”.
