French PM To Face Baptism Of Fire In Divided Parliament

Paris, July 6 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Jul, 2022 ) :French Prime Minister Elizabeth Borne on Wednesday will lay out the government's policy priorities in her first speech in front of what promises to be a stormy parliament.

The 61-year-old will make the customary "general political declaration" to kick off the legislative session, which is being scrutinised closely given Borne's weak position at the head of a minority government.

Centrist President Emmanuel Macron suffered a setback in parliamentary elections last month that saw his allies fall short of a majority by 39 seats.

He and Borne have since failed to tempt opposition parties into a coalition.

"The prime minister is working round the clock," a cabinet minister told AFP this week. "She's meeting everyone, she's calling everyone. She's really committed to listening, so we'll manage." Without formal allies in the 577-seat national assembly, Borne has decided not to call a confidence vote on her policy speech -- something almost all past prime ministers have done after their first appearances in the lower house.

Holding a vote was "too risky" for Borne, who would have been forced to step down if she lost, explained Bruno Cautres, a researcher at the Cevipof political studies unit at Sciences Po university in Paris.

"She made the right decision, but she didn't really have a choice."But the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party, one of the big gainers in June's parliamentary polls, announced that it would immediately call for a censure motion on Tuesday which would also bring Borne down if she lost.

Analysts see it as highly unlikely to pass, with other opposition parties from the far-right National Rally and the rightwing Republicans ruling out backing LFI.