UPDATE - French left-wing lawmaker threatens next gov't with censure motion

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By Nur Asena Erturk

ANKARA (AA) – A lawmaker from a French left-wing political party on Monday threatened France’s next government, which has yet to be announced, with a motion of censure.

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne “resigned, leaving behind…a badly damaged democracy. No matter who the monarch replaces her with, we demand a vote of confidence in Parliament! It is this vote which organizes political life in the country and in the (National) Assembly between the majority which supports the government and the opposition. Without this vote of confidence, we will table a motion of censure,” Mathilde Panot, president of the hard-left La France Insoumise (France Unbowed) parliamentary group in the National Assembly, wrote on X.

President Emmanuel Macron accepted Borne's resignation, the daily Le Figaro reported.

In her resignation letter, Borne expressed her passion for the mission, recalling that Macron expressed his "will to designate a new prime minister."

Macron posted a message on X thanking Borne for her "exemplary" service to the French nation.

The new prime minister will be designated on Tuesday, according to reports.

Several government officials including Transport Minister Clement Beaune, Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau and former Health Minister Aurelien Rousseau expressed support for Borne over her resignation.

Borne was appointed prime minister in May 2022, and her departure comes in the wake of the passage of a hardline, controversial immigration bill late last year.

She has been harshly criticized for using Article 49.3 of the Constitution to bypass a parliamentary vote when unable to secure a majority among lawmakers to adopt a bill, including much-contested pension reform in the first half of 2023.

Recent days have seen expectations that Macron will reshuffle his Cabinet.