France's Lecornu survives two no-confidence votes after pension pause

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu survived two votes of no confidence in the National Assembly on Thursday after winning lastminute support from Socialist lawmakers by offering to suspend a contested 2023 pension reform. The first motion, tabled by the hard left France Unbowed, received 271 votes, 18 short of the 289 required to topple the government. A second motion from the National Rally and its allies secured 144 votes.

Lecornu’s pledge to pause the reform, which raises the statutory retirement age from 62 to 64, proved decisive in persuading the Socialist Party not to back the censure motions. He told lawmakers he would propose an amendment to suspend the reform until after the 2027 presidential election and confirmed he would not invoke Article 49.3 of the Constitution to force legislation through without a vote. “The government will make proposals, we shall debate, and you shall vote,” Lecornu said in the Assembly.

Socialist group leaders described the suspension as a first step but warned their support was conditional. Socialist MP Laurent Baumel said rejecting the motion did not amount to a longterm pact, adding that the government’s survival depended on...