PARIS - The French reborn government headed by retaining Premier Fran-ois Fillon won the confidence vote at the National Assembly on Wednesday, ten days after it reshuffled on Nov 14.

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After a 40-minute speech by the prime minister in front of deputies outlining government policy, the lower house of French parliament voted confidence in the new government by 326 ballots against 226.

This result was no surprise for Fillon, who had been reappointed to be premier less in two weeks, as a majority of the legislators, in particularly members of the ruling UMP, had pleaded for his stay at Matignon before the cabinet redesign.  

His speech, welcomed by rather a number of deputies, depicted a policy roadmap for the remaining eighteen months in French President Nicolas Sarkozy's five-year mandate.

Fillon stressed the need of "continuity" of the government and its policies, defended and expressed determination to continue reforms, consolidate public fiscal as well as take care of social cohesion.

In detail, he especially mentioned policies such as to reinforce national competitiveness, cut public spending, enhance job creation, better education and housing conditions, reform the welfare system and improve national security.

Still, opposition parties didn't buy his remarks. The first secretary of the Socialist Party Martine Aubry criticized in a television show that Fillon and Sarkozy were as if living "in another country" because they ignored "the living reality" for the French.

Fillon will present the Senate, the upper parliament, a similar but shorter speech on the same subject on Thursday. The Senate will vote on the governmental project as well, but that vote is regarded of lower importance than the confidence vote in the National Assembly.