The French government on Tuesday firmly defeated the first of two no-confidence motions put forward by opposition lawmakers over its handling of a scandal involving Emmanuel Macron’s bodyguard, confirming the president’s solid majority.
The motion backed by the conservative opposition party won 143 votes, falling short of the 289 necessary to topple the government, capping a tumultuous two weeks in French politics after a video showing the bodyguard beating protesters triggered the most serious crisis of Macron’s tenure.
A second vote on the leftwing opposition’s own motion is expected later on Tuesday, but has virtually no chance of succeeding. Macron’s Republic On The Move party controls an outright majority in the lower house National Assembly.