French President Emmanuel Macron has ruled out resigning, saying he will stay in power until the end of his term in 2027. and will appoint a new prime minister in the coming days after the government historical collapse threw France into political turmoil.
“You have given me a democratic mandate of five years and I will fulfill it fully until its term,” he said in a televised speech to the French people late Thursday.
Macron, who faces the worst political crisis of his two terms as president, criticized what he called the “cynicism”, lack of accountability and “sense of chaos” of opposition politicians who ousted the government in a no-confidence vote on Wednesday, ending the right-wing prime minister’s beleaguered minority coalition Minister Michel Barnier in just three months.
Macron said he would not be responsible for this chaos. He said: “I will not bear the irresponsibility of other people”. would commit not to overthrow the government, he said.
Wednesday’s no-confidence vote was backed by an alliance of left-wing parties as well as MPs from Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigration far-right National Assembly, with a total of 331 MPs – a clear majority – voting to topple the government. Macron accused Le Pen’s party of “choosing disorder”.
France, which faces a growing public deficit, risks ending the year without 2025 budget or stable government, although the constitution allows for special measures that would prevent an American-style government shutdown.
Macron must now find a prime minister to take on the difficult task of leading a minority government in a deeply divided parliament. This will be France’s fourth prime minister this year.
The Elysee Palace sought to limit any impression of political chaos as Macron prepares to host world leaders on Saturday – including US President-elect Donald Trump – for the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris after the devastating fire in 2019.
Macron said that by rebuilding Notre Dame and hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games, France had shown that “we can do great things… we can do the impossible.”
Yaël Braun-Pivet, the president of the national assembly and a member of Macron’s centrist party, said France could not be left “drifting” for long. “There should be no political hesitation. We need a leader who can talk to anyone and work to pass a new budget bill.
As France enters a period of political turmoil, the Elysée said Barnier’s government will deal with current day-to-day issues until a new government is appointed.
New parliamentary elections cannot be called before July 2025, narrowing the options for Macron, who faces a deeply divided national assembly.
Amid speculation who could replace Barnier as Prime Minister Macron lunched with François Bayrou, a close ally and veteran centrist politician. Resigned defense minister Sébastien Lecorneux denied that he himself was involved in the race.
Socialists, communists and other figures in the left-wing union said a new prime minister must come from the left. Bruno Retailo, the hard-line interior minister in Barnier’s government, said the new prime minister should come from the right, saying “France is right-wing”.
Since Macron called a snap and inconclusive snap election in June, the French parliament has been split between three groups without an absolute majority. The Left Alliance took the most votes, but failed to achieve an absolute majority; Macron’s centrist group suffered losses but is still standing, and Le Pen’s National Rally gained seats but was kept in power by tactical voting from the left and center.
“We are now calling for Macron to go,” said Mathilde Pano, head of the parliamentary faction of Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s leftist party, La France Insoumise, which has called for “early presidential elections.”
Le Pen apparently did not call for Macron to resign immediately, but said the pressure on him would mount.
A poll by Odoxa Backbone Consulting for Le Figaro showed that 52% of French people think the vote of no confidence is a “good thing”. Among those who voted for Le Pen’s National Rally, this rises to 72%. “The majority of voters at the National Rally think that it’s all Emmanuel Macron’s fault,” Gael Slimane, head of the polls, told Le Figaro. “But some [National Rally voters]28% remain worried about the potential consequences.”
Wednesday’s vote was the first successful no-confidence vote in the country since the defeat of Georges Pompidou’s government in 1962, when Charles de Gaulle was president. Barnier’s government had the shortest life of any administration of the French Fifth Republic, which began in 1958.
Barnier, the former EU Brexit negotiator, was appointed by Macron in September after two months of political paralysis this summer.
Barnier’s key task, which proved his undoing, was to vote on a 2025 budget in which he said he would begin tackling France’s deficit with 60 billion euros in tax increases and spending cuts. But after weeks of standoff over the budget, Barnier pushed through a bill to fund social security on Monday, using Article 49.3 of the constitution, which allows the government to impose legislation without a vote in parliament. This prompted a vote of no confidence.
Barnier’s minority coalition was backed by Le Pen, who, although outside the government, had an unprecedentedly powerful role as Barnier tried to placate her to avoid her party joining a no-confidence vote. Barnier negotiated directly with her, shrinking the budget according to her demands.
But Le Pen withdrew, saying Barnier’s budget was a danger to the country. She told French television on Thursday that the voting system should be changed and proportional representation introduced.
If parliament does not pass a budget by December 20, the government could propose emergency legislation that would carry over spending limits and tax provisions from 2024, pending the arrival of a new government and a new budget bill for 2025.
“France is likely to have no budget for 2025,” ING Economics said in a note, predicting the country was “entering a new era of political instability.”
Moody’s, a rating agency, warned that Barnier’s downfall “deepens the country’s political impasse” and “reduces the likelihood of public finance consolidation”.
