Government spokeswoman Olivia Grégoire assured on Wednesday that Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne had not yet decided whether she would submit to a vote of confidence in Parliament, after the publication of the decree opening the extraordinary session on 5 July.
“No decision is made.” Ms. Borne “has not made her decision. It is up to her alone to take it”, underlined the spokesperson on BFMTV and RMC.
Published in the Official Journal on Wednesday, the decree announces the convening of Parliament in extraordinary session from July 5 and lists the texts on the menu: bills on purchasing power and health security in the face of Covid…
He maintains the vagueness on the holding or not of a vote of confidence, by mentioning a simple “declaration of the government” before the National Assembly and the Senate.
“I want to be very clear this morning: it is not because it is not registered that the Prime Minister could not do it. No door is closed as I speak to you”, assured Olivia Grégoire , specifying that the decision will be made “from the beginning of next week, the middle of next week”.
In 2017, the executive had recourse to article 49-1, which included a “declaration of general policy” and which resulted in a vote of confidence for the head of government Édouard Philippe. At the time, he had an absolute majority in the National Assembly, unlike Ms. Borne, who only has a relative majority of 250 deputies.
Unsurprisingly, the decree published in the Official Journal provides for the examination of two main texts for this extraordinary session: a draft law on “emergency measures for the protection of purchasing power” accompanied by an amending budget, and a draft law on “monitoring and health security” in the face of Covid-19.
Also on the program, a “government statement” before the Assembly and the Senate on the results of the French presidency of the European Union, followed by a debate, in application of article 50-1 of the Constitution.
Also on the menu is a weekly government question session.
06/29/2022 10:53:26 – Paris (AFP) – © 2022 AFP
