French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is expected to withstand two no-confidence votes in parliament on Thursday after agreeing to suspend President Emmanuel Macron’s flagship pension reform in a bid to gain support from the left.
Lecornu—already France’s shortest-serving prime minister before being reappointed last week—had faced the prospect of an even briefer second term until he made the key concession on Tuesday.
The Socialist Party, whose backing is crucial to Lecornu’s survival, welcomed his decision and announced it would not support the two no-confidence motions, one filed by the far-left and the other by the far-right National Rally.
Despite Lecornu’s offer to shelve the pension reform until after the 2027 presidential election, the outcome remains uncertain, as potential dissenters within the Socialist and conservative Republican ranks could still sway the result.
Currently, 265 lawmakers have pledged to vote against Lecornu—just 24 short of the 289 votes needed to oust him.
Addressing parliament on Wednesday, Lecornu said he would introduce an amendment in November to the social security financing bill to formally suspend the pension reform.
By putting the reform on hold, Lecornu risks dismantling one of Macron’s signature economic policies at a time when France’s public finances are under strain, leaving the president with few domestic achievements after eight years in power.
France is grappling with its deepest political turmoil in decades, as successive minority governments struggle to push through deficit-cutting budgets in a fragmented parliament divided into three main ideological blocs.
Meanwhile, the Socialists signaled on Wednesday that they will push for the inclusion of a billionaire tax in the 2026 budget as parliamentary debates on the spending plan begin.
