Paris- France could sink deeper into political crisis Thursday when the prime minister faces two attempts in Parliament to topple his fragile new government, which could leave President Emmanuel Macron with no palatable option other than calling snap legislative elections.

Legislators in the National Assembly, the powerful but deeply divided lower house, will vote on no-confidence motions filed by Macron's fiercest opponents - the hard-left France Unbowed party and Marine Le Pen of the far-right National Rally and her allies in Parliament.

If Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu survives, it could be close. Should the ally of Macron fall, the president has signalled through a government spokeswoman that he could dissolve the National Assembly rather than name a replacement for Lecornu.

He resigned as prime minister last week only for Macron to re-appoint him again four days later.

The outcome of legislative elections that would follow any National Assembly dissolution is uncertain. But Le Pen's party - already the largest in the National Assembly - believes that it's poised to make strong gains, possibly putting the National Rally in government for the first time should Macron take that route again, having tried it once before in June 2024.

Here's a closer look at the high-stake no-confidence votes:

Who called them and why

Le Pen has for weeks been campaigning hard for fresh legislative elections, buoyed by polls that suggest that the National Rally could capitalise, as it did after the last dissolution in 2024.

Le Pen and her right-wing ally Eric Ciotti filed their censure motion the morning after the newly re-appointed prime minister named his new Cabinet on Sunday. It says that dissolving the National Assembly“is the most efficient and most democratic way to get our country out of the dead end.”

The France Unbowed censure motion, also filed Monday morning, argues that toppling Lecornu could help spur the ouster of Macron, too - even though the French leader has said that he has no intention of cutting short his second and last presidential term that ends in 2027.

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