San Francisco Frontiers - Embattled French PM gets boost from Socialists over budget

But the Socialist Party decided against backing the no-confidence motion against Bayrou, party sources said, giving the prime minister a much-needed boost.

Bayrou, a veteran centrist named by President Emmanuel Macron on December 13 to end months of political crisis following last summer's inconclusive legislative elections, is nowhere near having a parliamentary majority.

In December, the far-right RN party teamed up with the left-wing bloc to topple the government of Bayrou's predecessor Michel Barnier.

In a newspaper interview published Sunday, Bayrou announced he would ram through the budget legislation this week using article 49.3 of the constitution, which allows governments to pass laws without a vote in parliament.

"Now we must move towards adoption without delay. A country like ours cannot remain without a budget," Bayrou told the La Tribune Dimanche newspaper.

"The only way is to engage the government's responsibility. This will be done this Monday," he said in reference to article 49.3.

His office confirmed Bayrou planned to resort to the tactic twice on Monday, to force through the budget as well as the social security budget.

Bayrou could use the same tactic later this week again, in the hope of seeing the legislation adopted by the upper-house Senate around February 17-18.

In its debate on Monday afternoon, the lower-house National Assembly will from 4:00 pm (1500 GMT) debate a text drawn up by a committee of 14 deputies and senators from the two parliamentary chambers.

- 'Inshallah' -

"A 49.3 and Inshallah," read the headline in the left-leaning Liberation, saying it was quoting Bayrou using an Arabic expression meaning "God Willing".

The use of this tactic, while convenient for a minority government, means the opposition has the right to put forwards a no-confidence motion to bring the prime minister and his government down.

The new no-confidence vote should take place on Wednesday.

The hard-left France Unbowed (LFI), backed by the Communists and the Greens, has said it will put forward such a motion for a vote, with the key question now whether the far-right National Rally (RN) party will back it.

New legislative elections cannot take place until at least one year after the previous polls, so the toppling of Bayrou's government would place Macron under intense pressure and plunge France into uncharted political waters.

Bayrou is Macron's sixth prime minister since taking office in 2017. The president has faced calls to step down but has repeatedly insisted he will serve out his term in full.

- Concessions -

The prime minister managed to convince the Socialists not to back a no-confidence motion against him earlier this year in a major victory that heralded the end of the New Popular Front (NFP), a broad left-wing alliance that had endured since the election campaign.

But with the Socialists -- who have performed woefully in elections since the presidency of Socialist Francois Hollande from 2012 to 2017 -- themselves split, things are far less certain this time.

The Socialists broke off talks with Bayrou's administration last week after he referred to migrants "flooding" France, borrowing from terminology previously used by the far right.

In a symbolic move, the party leadership decided Monday to table a separate no-confidence motion after Bayrou referred to migrants "flooding" France, according to party sources.

The move is not expected to be supported by the far right or centre-right and therefore will not topple Bayrou's government, according to the Socialist Party's thinking.

Boris Vallaud, head of the Socialists' parliamentary group, told the Ouest France newspaper's Sunday edition that they "know that this country needs a budget and we hear the concerns, the fears of businesses, communities or associations".

In an overture to the PS, Labour Minister Catherine Vautrin said the Bayrou government was prepared to widen the social security deficit.

"With new concessions, the government is hoping that the PS will not vote for the no-confidence motion," the Le Monde newspaper said.

The RN has said it will make its position clear at the beginning of the week.

D.Brown--SFF