The call by Socialist parliamentary group leader Olivier Faure, France Insoumise leader Jean-Luc Melenchon, Communist Party lawmaker Andre Chassaigne and 59 others was backed by only 70 legislators in the 577-seat National Assembly, falling short of the 289 votes it needed to go ahead.
"We call for a vote of confidence in the government policy dictated by the president. Our duty is to find a political solution to the current crisis and to show that another way exists," the motion reads.
READ MORE: Leftist Party France Unbowed Leader Expects 'Yellow Vests' Protests to Continue
Leftist leaders accused the government of failing those most vulnerable – pensioners and the young – whose anger was "crystallized" in the recent protests against a rise in the diesel tax. They said President Emmanuel Macron’s green transition only deepened social inequality.