French government to face no-confidence vote over heatwave handling

The motion, backed by 32 Green lawmakers, 25 hard-left France Unbowed lawmakers and one Socialist lawmaker, ​was expected to be discussed at the National Assembly on ​July 6, a spokesperson for the Green party at the ⁠National Assembly told Reuters.

The bid to topple Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu's ​minority government is unlikely to succeed.

The National Rally has already said it ​will not back the motion. The Socialists have not supported any of the no-confidence motions filed against Lecornu since he took office last year.

Government spokesperson Maud Bregeon ​said on Wednesday ahead of the motion's filing: "There is a government managing ​the crisis and there are political forces fueling the crisis by introducing the ‌motion."

Though ⁠temperatures have started to drop from record-high levels, they are still around 30 degrees Celsius (86°F) in much of the country and are expected to rise again at the weekend, national weather forecaster Meteo France has ​said.

France has recorded at ​least 1,000 ⁠excess deaths during the blistering heatwave that has swept Europe since June 20, the public health agency ​said on Sunday, warning that the true figure was ​likely to ⁠be higher.

During questions at the National Assembly on Tuesday, Cyriele Chatelain, who leads the Green party at the National Assembly, said the government bore some ⁠responsibility for ​the deaths during the heatwave.

Some Green lawmakers ​have suggested that as many as 10,000 people may have died in the heatwave, ​which Lecornu angrily challenged as "scandalous" and "undignified".