French PM Bayrou survives 6th no-confidence vote

PARIS - French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou survived his sixth no-confidence vote on Wednesday night since taking office on Dec 13 last year.

The no-confidence vote, initiated by the Socialist Party (PS), received only 181 votes in the French National Assembly, far below the 289 needed to unseat Bayrou, according to the results announced by the Speaker's representative.

The PS launched the no-confidence vote on Monday in protest against Bayrou's use of the term "migratory submersion". The left-wing party accused him of accelerating France's "political and moral decline".

The far-right party National Rally (RN) had previously announced that it would not support the no-confidence vote. Earlier Wednesday, the hard-left party La France Insoumise (LFI) said that it would vote in favor, despite acknowledging that the Socialists didn't support LFI's no-confidence votes against Bayrou.

Bayrou was appointed prime minister by French President Emmanuel Macron on Dec 13 after his predecessor Michel Barnier was ousted in a no-confidence vote.