French President Emmanuel Macron has said he will name a new prime minister “in the coming days”, after Michel Barnier resigned following a no-confidence vote in parliament.
The president thanked Barnier for his dedication during his brief term as prime minister, and accused MPs of collaborating in an “anti-republican front” to bring down the government.
In France, it is the president who chooses the prime minister who then runs the government.
Faure said after the talks Macron had “absolutely not” asked the Socialists to split from the wider New Popular Front (NFP).
Macron gave no indication of who the next prime minister would be, but said their immediate focus would be the budget for 2025.
Following Michel Barnier’s resignation due to a no-confidence vote in parliament, French President Emmanuel Macron has stated that he will appoint a new prime minister “in the coming days.”.
Rejecting pressure from the opposition to resign, he promised to remain in his position “fully, until the end of the mandate” in 2027 during a 10-minute speech to the nation on Thursday.
The Socialist leaders, with whom Macron was meeting on Friday, stated that they were open to reaching a compromise in the form of a “fixed-term” government, but not with a right-wing prime minister.
On Wednesday, just three months after Macron appointed him, the Socialists voted to remove Michel Barnier, joining their far-right and left-leaning counterparts.
Barnier’s commitment during his brief tenure as prime minister was commended by the president, who also accused MPs of working together in an “anti-republican front” to overthrow the government.
“Unprecedented” is how Macron described the vote, which marked the first time in over 60 years that a French government had been overthrown by parliament.
In France, the prime minister is chosen by the president and leads the government. However, the prime minister is answerable to parliament, and Barnier was removed in a no-confidence vote after just three months in office.
Macron may have trouble finding someone who won’t be instantly rejected by parliament after his decision to call snap elections in June left the legislature impassed.
The left, center, and far right now make up the three main voting blocs in the National Assembly. At least a portion of the left bloc is believed to need to be convinced to join the next government if Macron’s next choice for prime minister is to succeed.
After promising to “appoint in the coming days a prime minister who will form a government of general interest,” the president met with a number of political figures on Friday.
He first addressed centrists in the “Macron camp” before sitting down with Socialist leaders, who belong to the New Popular Front, a larger left-wing group. Additionally, he will speak with conservative Republicans.
Prior to the negotiations, socialist leader Olivier Faure declared that he was amenable to dialogue and “compromises on every issue” in order to form a government on a “fixed term contract.”. He did, however, express a lack of desire to “ensure the continuity of Macronism.”.
Faure may have been referring to a limited term for the next government because no new parliamentary elections can be held until July 2025.
Following the negotiations, Faure claimed that Macron had “absolutely not” asked the Socialists to break away from the larger New Popular Front (NFP). However, Faure was not authorized to speak for the Popular Front, according to France Unbowed, the far-left party that is the largest member of the NFP.
“A little reminder to President Macron, who is supposed to be the guarantor of the Constitution: censure is not anti-republican, it is provided for in the Constitution of our Fifth Republic,” Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Rally (RN), wrote on social media in response to Macron’s speech on Thursday. “,”.
Le Pen’s RN and the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) alliance had both proposed the no-confidence vote that overthrew Barnier’s government.
Following his use of special powers to push his budget through without a vote, the former Brexit negotiator joined forces to censure the government.
The motion against Barnier received far more votes than the 288 needed to pass, with 331 MPs voting in favor of it.
Automatically, the budget was withdrawn after Barnier’s resignation on Thursday. He and his ministers will hold their positions until a new government is formed. Macron’s role remains unchanged.
Macron has come under heavy fire for calling early elections, which has led to a parliamentary impasse and a worsening political crisis.
During his speech, he acknowledged that his choice “was not understood”: “I know that many people still blame me for it. I am accountable for it, and it is a fact. “.
Speaking to voters directly, he claimed that some of his rivals were not considering “you, the voters,” implying that they were more concerned with the upcoming presidential election, and that they had chosen “chaos over responsibility.”.
Macron stated that their first priority would be the 2025 budget, but he did not specify who would be the next prime minister.
A number of people have been speculating about who might be named, including centrist former presidential candidate François Bayrou, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, and Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu.
Macron asked his predecessor, Gabriel Attal, to serve as caretaker for two months following the summer elections before appointing Barnier as prime minister.
When world leaders, including US President-elect Donald Trump, are scheduled to attend the opening ceremony of the renovated Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris on Saturday, it appears extremely unlikely that the next government will be in place in time.
The structure was destroyed by fire in April 2019, and its reconstruction, which took place just over five years later, has received international acclaim.
Macron claimed that France’s successful hosting of the 2024 Olympics and the restoration of the damaged cathedral were “proof that we can do great things.”.
He asserted that “we can do the impossible.”. “We are admired by everyone for that. “,”.
