PARIS: French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou is expected on Wednesday to survive a no-confidence vote in parliament, winning some breathing space after less than two months in office but by no means ensuring long-term survival.

Bayrou, a veteran centrist named by President Emmanuel Macron in December to end months of political crisis, on Monday used a controversial constitutional article to ram his cost-cutting budget through parliament without a vote.

But the use of this mechanism, article 49.3, allows the opposition to put forward a no-confidence motion and the bid to topple the government was duly proposed by the hard-left France Unbowed, backed by the Communists and the Greens, to be voted on Wednesday.