The elected representatives of Nupes and the National Rally could support the initiative of centrist parliamentarians, who form the smallest group in the National Assembly.
The Liot deputies are not the parliamentarians best known to public opinion. However, since the Prime Minister drew 49.3 on Thursday March 16, eyes have turned to those who form the smallest group in the National Assembly. Their motion of no confidence, tabled on Friday, represents the greatest chance of success in bringing down the government.
The Liberties, Independents, Overseas and Territories (Liot) group brings together 20 deputies from the center right to the center left. They “share a deep attachment to the territories and to the defense of their identity”they write in their “political statement” on their site. They also cite as a priority the fight “against the social, generational and territorial fractures that undermine the cohesion of our country, as well as against environmental risks”.
A group founded by a former macronist
Within a divided Assembly, where no camp has an absolute majority, the group is courted from all sides. Its president, Bertrand Pancher, former member of the UMP and the Radical Party of Jean-Louis Borloo, explained, at the beginning of February, to have been consulted more since the beginning of the legislature “only in 15 years of mandate”.
First there were the approaches to government, which hoped for support on the pension reform. Liot said no. “The characteristic of our group is to be humanist. Therefore, we cannot accept a pension reform where 60% of employees will be impacted”, explained the founder of the group, Paul Molac, to franceinfo.
The Breton deputy is however a former macronist elected. But, feeling uncomfortable in the midst of a majority”where it was ‘walking in step’, he gradually gathered around him elected officials from different backgrounds. Corsican nationalists appear there, as well as several ultramarine deputies. Since the creation of the group in 2018, during the previous legislature, the independent deputies have managed to find common positions, but with freedom to vote each time.
“We must defend democracy”
This time, it is the oppositions that line up behind Liot’s initiative. Outraged by the use of 49.3, the leaders of the group have filed their own motion of censure “transpartisan”. For this, the signature of 58 deputies was needed. They are finally 91 to have affixed their name, including 76 on the left. “NOTWe all agree on one thing, it is that we must defend democracy [en dépit de] our differences”had previously explained Charles de Courson, fstrong opponent of pension reform. Deputy Liot, the oldest member of the National Assembly, is one of those who pulled the strings to convince his colleagues.
If the National Rally has also declared that it wants to table a motion of censure, it is indeed that of the Liot group which is giving the government cold sweats for the time being. The central position of the group on the political spectrum could enable it to aggregate votes. On the left, La France insoumise (LFI) has already announced that it will not file a motion of censure itself. She prefers to favor that of the Liot group, in order to “give the greatest chance to censorship”, explained Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of LFI, on France Inter on Friday. The other Nupes groups could do the same. Thirteen “rebellious” parliamentarians signed the motion of censure tabled on Friday.
The deputies of the National Rally (RN) will also vote the motion of censure of the Liot group. “She is the one who is likely to have the votes of the entire opposition”explained the president of the RN, Jordan Bardella on franceinfo.
How many supporters at Les Républicains?
There remains the question of the Republicans. None of them co-signed Liot’s no-confidence motion. “I regret that my colleagues from LR are not signatories, but I hope that many of them will vote for it”reacted Friday Bernard Plancher.
Since the outbreak of 49-3, several LR deputies have announced that they will vote for the motion of censure of Liot, against the opinion of their group. This is the case of the elected representative of the Territoire de Belfort, Ian Boucard. “Personally, I will vote for censorship”, also said Moselle deputy Fabien Di Filippo, quoted by AFP. According to the same source, Pierre-Henri Dumont (Pas-de-Calais) refuses to vote for an RN or LFI motion, but a Liot motion “discuss”. “I do not forbid myself anything” on a vote, added his colleague from Oise Maxime Minot. The elected representative of Cantal Jean-Yves Bony declared himself ready for it on Tuesday, according to LCI. Finally, MP Aurélien Pradié, for his part, estimated on Thursday that “each deputy remains completely free to participate in another motion of censure”.
However, the bar of 287 votes (i.e. an absolute majority) necessary for the adoption of the motion of censure by the National Assembly seems difficult to achieve. Even if all the Nupes, RN and Liot deputies vote for the text, it will still be necessary to count on the support of at least 25 elected Republicans. But that might not be enough, since the Liot group itself does not seem unanimous on the issue. Only 15 of the 20 deputies thus signed the motion of censure.