PARIS (news agencies) — French President Emmanuel Macron vowed Thursday to stay in office until the end of his term, due in 2027, and announced that he will name a new prime minister within days following the resignation of ousted Prime Minister Michel Barnier.
Macron came out fighting a day after a historic no-confidence vote at the National Assembly left France without a functioning government. He laid blame at the door of his opponents on the far right for bringing down Barnier’s government.
“They chose disorder,” he said.
The president said the far right and the far left had united in what he called “an anti-Republican front” and stressed: “I won’t shoulder other people’s irresponsibility.”
He said he’d name a new prime minister within days but gave no hints who that might be.
While critical of his political opponents, Macron also acknowledged his own “responsibility” in the chaos now shaking French politics and alarming financial markets.
He revisited his decision in June to dissolve parliament. That precipitated the crisis, leading to new legislative elections that produced the now hung parliament, divided between three minority blocs that don’t have enough seats to govern alone.
“I do recognize that this decision wasn’t understood. Many people criticized me for it. I know many continue to criticize me for it,” he said. However, he argued, “I believe it was necessary” to let French voters speak.
Earlier in the day, Macron “took note” of Barnier’s resignation, the Elysee presidential palace said. Barnier and other ministers will be “in charge of current affairs until the appointment of a new government,” the statement said.
The no-confidence motion passed by 331 votes in the National Assembly, forcing Barnier to step down after just three months in office—the shortest tenure of any prime minister in modern French history.
The new prime minister “will be charged with forming a government of general interest representing all the political forces … that commit not to vote a no-confidence motion,” Macron said.
The priority will be to pass a budget law for 2025, he added.
Macron tore into lawmakers who brought Barnier’s government down, accusing them of pursuing their own political interests. He noted that the vote came with the end of year holidays just around the corner.
“Why did lawmakers act this way? They’re not thinking of you, of your lives, your difficulties,” he said. “They’re thinking of just one thing: the presidential election — to prepare it, to provoke it, to precipitate it.”
But Macron said he’d see out the 30 months still left in his second and last term as president.
Macron faces the critical task of naming a replacement capable of leading a minority government in a parliament where no party holds a majority. Yaël Braun-Pivet, president of the National Assembly and a member of Macron’s party, urged the president to move quickly.
“I recommend he decide rapidly on a new prime minister,” Braun-Pivet said Thursday on France Inter radio. “There must not be any political hesitation. We need a leader who can speak to everyone and work to pass a new budget bill.”
The process may prove challenging. Macron’s administration has yet to confirm any names, though French media have reported a shortlist of centrist candidates who might appeal to both sides of the political spectrum.
Macron took more than two months to appoint Barnier after his party’s defeat in June’s legislative elections, raising concerns about potential delays this time.
The no-confidence vote has galvanized opposition leaders, with some explicitly calling for Macron’s resignation.
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