French President Emmanuel Macron vowed Thursday (December 5, 2024) 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.
Mr. 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, Mr. 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 recognise that this decision wasn’t understood. Many people criticised me for it. I know many continue to criticise me for it,” he said. However, he argued, “I believe it was necessary” to let French voters speak.
Earlier in the day, Mr. 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,” Mr. Macron said.
The priority will be to pass a budget law for 2025, he added.
Mr. 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 Mr. Macron said he’d see out the 30 months still left in his second and last term as president.
Mr. 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 Mr. 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. Mr. 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.
Mr. 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 galvanised opposition leaders, with some explicitly calling for Mr. Macron’s resignation.
“I believe that stability requires the departure of the President of the Republic,” said Manuel Bompard, leader of the far-left France Unbowed party, on BFM TV Wednesday night.
Far-right National Rally leader Marine Le Pen, whose party holds the most seats in the Assembly, stopped short of calling for Mr. Macron’s resignation but warned that “the pressure on the President of the Republic will get stronger and stronger.”
Mr. Macron, however, has dismissed such calls and ruled out new legislative elections. The French constitution does not call for a president to resign after his government was ousted by the National Assembly.
“I was elected to serve until 2027, and I will fulfil that mandate,” he told reporters earlier this week.
The constitution also says that new legislative elections cannot be held until at least July, creating a potential stalemate for policymakers.
The political instability has heightened concerns about France’s economy, particularly its debt, which could rise to 7% of GDP next year without significant reforms. Analysts say that Barnier’s government downfall could push up French interest rates, digging the debt even further.
Rating agency Moody’s warned late Wednesday that the government’s fall “reduces the likelihood of consolidating public finances” and worsens the political gridlock.
Mr. Macron’s speech, scheduled for 8 p.m. local time, is expected to address these economic challenges while setting a course for the future government.
A planned protest by teachers against budget cuts in education took on a new tone Thursday, as demonstrators in Paris linked their demands to the political crisis.
“Macron quit!” read a sign held by Dylan Quenon, a 28-year-old teacher at a middle school in Aubervilliers, just north of Paris.
Mr. Quenon said Mr. Macron bears responsibility for what he described as the dismantling of public services like schools. “The only way for this to change is to have him out of office,” he said.
Protesters expressed little hope that Mr. Macron’s next appointee would reverse course.
“I’m glad this government is falling, but it could possibly lead to something even worse,” said Élise De La Gorce, a 33-year-old teacher in Stains, north of Paris.
Published – December 06, 2024 02:29 am IST
