French government survives no-confidence vote over heatwave handling
Parliamentary Response to Heatwave Crisis
PARIS, July 6 (Reuters) - The French government survived a vote of no-confidence in parliament on Monday over its handling of a severe heatwave in late June.
Background on the No-Confidence Motion
• Backers of the motion said the government failed to do enough to blunt the effects of last month's heatwave in a country where 2,025 excess deaths have been recorded so far. French health authorities warned the number would likely rise.
• The motion, filed by France's Green Party, which needed 289 votes to pass, was backed by only 132 members of parliament.
Prime Minister's Defense
• "No one is fooled. This motion will not protect an isolated elderly person. It will not cool down a hospital room. It will not modernise a water supply network. On the contrary, it will add a political crisis to climate, healthcare and international crises that the government already must deal with," French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu told lawmakers ahead of the vote.
Wider Impact of the Heatwave
• The vote took place as firefighters battled a wildfire in southwestern France that has forced the evacuation of 10,000 people.
• Early summer heatwaves in France and across western Europe have made the scorched land particularly vulnerable to wildfires this year, and temperatures are set to rise again.
(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon and Elizabeth Pineau; Editing by Makini Brice and Alex Richardson)
