French Upper House Rejects Call For Confidence Vote In Macron's Government

PARIS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th December, 2018) The upper house of the French parliament on Thursday threw out a leftist motion of no confidence in the government over its handling of the recent protests and response to people's grievances.

The call by Socialist parliamentary group leader Olivier Faure, France Insoumise leader Jean-Luc Melenchon, Communist Party lawmaker Andre Chassaigne and 59 others was backed by only 70 legislators in the 577-seat National Assembly, falling short of the 289 votes it needed to go ahead.

"We call for a vote of confidence in the government policy dictated by the president. Our duty is to find a political solution to the current crisis and to show that another way exists," the motion reads.

Leftist leaders accused the government of failing those most vulnerable - pensioners and the young - whose anger was "crystallized" in the recent protests against a rise in the diesel tax. They said President Emmanuel Macron's green transition only deepened social inequality.