The French president Emmanuel Macron has held meetings with parliament and senate leaders before a speech to the nation on Thursday evening, as pressure grows for him to swiftly appoint a new prime minister in the wake of the French government’s historic collapse.
The rightwing prime minister, Michel Barnier, met Macron for just over an hour in order to hand in his resignation letter, a day after his minority coalition became the first to be toppled by a no-confidence vote in more than 60 years and only three months after it took office.
There was not yet official confirmation of Barnier’s resignation on Thursday morning, as France entered a period of political turmoil.
Macron had lunch with François Bayrou, a close ally and veteran centrist politician, amid speculation over who could replace Barnier to take on the difficult task of leading a minority government in a deeply divided parliament.
Macron will address the nation in a televised speech at 8pm on Thursday evening, the Elysée Palace said.
Yaël Braun-Pivet, the president of the national assembly and a member of Macron’s centrist party, met Macron on Thursday and urged him to move quickly.
“There must not be any political hesitation,” Braun-Pivet told France Inter radio. She said a new prime minister must be appointed swiftly. “We need a leader who can speak to everyone and work to pass a new budget bill.”
Barnier said in his final speech that the no-confidence motion in his government would “make everything more serious and more difficult”.
Barnier’s forced exit comes after snap parliamentary elections this summer, which resulted in a hung parliament with no party having an overall majority and the far right holding the key to the government’s survival.
Macron’s term in office runs until spring 2027. Some – though not all – of his opponents have called on him to resign. He has brushed aside any talk of resigning. The fragmented parliament will remain unchanged as no new legislative elections can be held until at least July.
The no-confidence motion, brought by a left alliance in the national assembly, came amid a standoff over next year’s budget, after the prime minister on Monday forced through a social security financing bill without a vote.
With the crucial support of Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally, a majority of 331 MPs in the 577-member chamber voted to oust the government.
Speaking on TF1 television after the vote, the National Rally leader, Marine Le Pen, said “we had a choice to make, and our choice is to protect the French” from a “toxic” budget. Le Pen also accused Macron of being “largely responsible for the current situation”, adding that “the pressure on the president of the Republic will get stronger and stronger”.
It was the first successful no-confidence vote since a defeat for Georges Pompidou’s government in 1962, when Charles de Gaulle was president.
“We are now calling on Macron to go,” Mathilde Panot, the head of the parliamentary faction of the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party, told reporters, urging “early presidential elections” to solve the deepening political crisis.
Taking care not to crow over the government’s fall, Le Pen said in a television interview that her party – once a new prime minister was appointed – “would let them work” and help create a “budget that is acceptable for everyone”.
In an editorial, Le Monde said Le Pen had risked upsetting her own supporters, such as retirees and business leaders, by toppling the government. “In the space of a few minutes, she shattered the strategy of normalisation she had consistently pursued,” the daily said.
after newsletter promotion
Laurent Wauquiez, the head of rightwing deputies in parliament, said the far right and hard left bore the responsibility for a no-confidence vote that will “plunge the country into instability”.
Candidates for the post of prime minister are few, but the loyalist defence minister Sebastien Lecornu and Macron’s centrist ally Francois Bayrou are possible contenders.
On the left, Macron could turn to the former Socialist PM and interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve, a contender in September.
Barnier was the fifth prime minister since Macron came to power in 2017, with each serving a successively shorter period. Given the turbulence, the new nominee risks an even shorter term than Barnier, whose tenure was the shortest of any administration since the Fifth Republic began in 1958.
Macron may appoint the new prime minister rapidly, several sources told AFP. A source close to Macron said the president, who has taken time with appointments in the past, had “no choice” but to do so within 24 hours.
Macron has rejected calls to resign.
With markets nervous and France bracing for public-sector strikes against the threat of cuts, action that will shut schools and hit air and rail traffic, there is a growing sense of crisis. Unions have called for civil servants, including teachers and air-traffic controllers, to strike on Thursday over separate cost-cutting measures.
“His failure” was leftwing daily Liberation’s front-page headline, with a picture of Macron, whose term runs until 2027.
Meanwhile, the president is due to host a major international event on Saturday with the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral after the 2019 fire, with guests including Donald Trump on his first foreign trip since he was re-elected.
Agence France-Presse ands Associated Press contributed to this report