French government narrowly survives first no-confidence motion

The French government of Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne on Monday narrowly survived a no-confidence motion, brought by the centrist Liot coalition and backed by the left-wing opposition, over its decision to bypass parliament and impose a controversial pension reform.

The 577 seat National Assembly lower house rejected the motion by just nine votes, with 278 votes in favour of ousting the government, speaker Yael Braun-Pivet announced. It then began voting om a second no-confidence motion brought by the far-right National Rally (RN) seen as less dangerous for the government.