PARIS: Allies of French Prime Minister Manuel Valls tipped him to survive a confidence vote in parliament on Tuesday after the centre-left leader pursued a two-day charm offensive to cajole rebel backbenchers into the government camp.
But the wider question remained over whether Valls, whose poll ratings have crumbled since he took on the job of President Francois Hollande's premier in April, will retain the authority needed to revamp the euro zone's second largest economy and narrow the public deficit.
Socialist Party managers expect some 30 deputies to abstain in a vote whose result is due around 7:30 pm local time (1730 GMT). That would allow Valls to win a majority in the 577-seat assembly with backing from centrist allies in other parties.
Valls summoned Socialist lawmakers to a "seminar" on Monday at which he painted a grim picture of the foreign policy challenges facing France before wining and dining them in the 18th century H?tel de Lassay mansion near parliament.
His campaign for their votes continued on Tuesday with more closed-door meetings before Valls opens the parliament session with a policy speech expected to reaffirm the more business-friendly line adopted by Hollande since January but which has yet failed to stimulate growth and trigger new hiring.
Christian Paul, one of the rebel Socialist backbenchers, expected the number of abstentions to be "probably around 30, perhaps a bit more" and stressed the protest was not an attempt to unseat Valls and push for new elections.
"Our intention is not to quit the coalition," he said.
"I want new policies - with or without Manuel Valls ... We worked together for more than 10 years to come to power and every time we move away from the promises we made in 2012 I think we are getting ourselves lost," he told RTL radio.
VALLS EYES 2017
The vote comes after France finally conceded last week that near-zero economic growth would prevent it from bringing its public deficit below three percent of output next year, the second time Hollande has broken such a promise to EU partners.
Hollande - his popularity ratings at record low levels for a modern-day French leader - is due on Thursday to hold a marathon news conference outlining plans for the rest of his five-year mandate and swatting away calls for critics for him to resign.
Financial markets and EU capitals from Berlin to Rome will look closely for clues on how fast France will enact promised new reforms on its labour market and how credibly Hollande re-commits to lowering the public deficit from its current level above four percent.
German officials have in recent days insisted that euro zone economies can only unlock growth and hiring with a mix of fiscal rigour and sometimes painful reforms, while Valls' Italian counterpart Matteo Renzi backs France in its quest to seek more flexibility on budget targets.
Even if Tuesday's confidence vote is positive, the Hollande-Valls duo already have a tough task convincing left-wing allies to back a plan to shave 50 billion euros of public spendings by 2017 and hand business over 40 billion euros in tax cuts.
They also face street protests at upcoming reforms to de-regulate tightly protected professions including notaries, pharmacists and taxi-drivers and to ease rules on worker representation in companies which bosses say are a cost burden.
With Hollande's approval rating already down at 13 percent, the government had been banking on Valls' popularity and more dynamic image to carry through the reforms.
Yet a survey by pollster Ipsos in Le Point magazine on Monday showed even his popularity was being contaminated by the sense of disarray surrounding Hollande, with his rating falling four points to 30 percent and a full 63 percent saying they had an "unfavourable view" of what he has done so far.
Yet Valls brushed off suggestions he would abandon ship before 2017 presidential elections in which he is expected to run himself.
"I will go all the way to accomplish my mission, you can be sure of that," he told reporters on Monday.
Of France's current economic woes, he noted: "That does not get solved in a few months, not even a couple of years."
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