PARIS: A day after French Prime Minister Michel Barnier's government was toppled by a no-confidence vote, President Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday that he would name a new prime minister in the coming days.
The incoming prime minister's top priority will be getting parliament to approve a 2025 budget, he stressed.
Michel Barnier, a conservative veteran, became the shortest-serving prime minister in modern French history when he resigned Thursday after parliament ousted him over his tax plans, just three months after his appointment.
In a televised address to the nation, Macron said he would name a successor to Barnier “in the coming days.”
“The priority will be the budget,” Macron said.
A special law will be presented in mid-December to extend the 2024 budget and avoid any gap. The new government will then prepare a full budget early next year, particularly to take inflation into account, for a vote in parliament.
Macron, whose unfortunate decision to call an early vote in June led to a bitterly divided parliament, denied responsibility for the political crisis.
The president, who represents a centrist party, said far-right and left-wing parties united in an “anti-republican front” to create “a mess” with Barnier's overthrow.
Macron has been weakened by the crisis but resisted calls from some opposition members for him to resign. He reaffirmed that he will remain in office until his term ends in May 2027.
“The mandate you have given me is for five years and I will fulfill it until the end,” he stated.
In a 10-minute speech, he added that the new government should represent a variety of parties willing to participate in it or at least agree not to censor it. He didn't say which ones.
Meanwhile, Macron has asked Barnier and his government to remain in an interim capacity until a new government is formed.
Fiscal deficit, divided parliament
It was unclear whether there would be a new government before Saturday's ceremony to reopen Notre-Dame Cathedral, which has been renovated after a devastating fire. World leaders, including US President-elect Donald Trump, are expected to attend.
Macron cited the reconstruction of the Gothic cathedral and the successful Paris Olympics over the summer as evidence that France can deliver.
“They are proof that we can do great things. We can do the impossible,” he said. “The world admires us for that.”
Macron had lunch on Thursday with Francois Bayrou, whose name has been cited by French media as a possible successor to Barnier, Le Parisien newspaper reported. An aide to Bayrou did not respond to a request for comment.
Any new prime minister will face the same challenge as Barnier: dealing with a fractured parliament, in particular passing a budget at a time when France needs to rein in its public finances.
French bonds and stocks rose on Thursday on what some traders said was profit-taking following the widely expected outcome of the parliament's no-confidence motion that ousted Barnier. But the relief recovery is unlikely to last, given the magnitude of political uncertainty.
“Until possible new elections, the current political uncertainty will likely keep the risk premium on French assets elevated,” SocGen analysts said in a note. The earliest possible date for a parliamentary election would be in July.
The collapse of France's government leaves the country without a clear path toward reducing its fiscal deficit, with the most likely outcome being less belt-tightening than previously planned, credit rating agency Standard and Poor's said.
