Macron says he’ll name new PM in the next few days, vows to remain in office

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday, December 5, vowed to name a new prime minister “in the coming days” after the resignation of Michel Barnier, whose government was toppled by a no-confidence vote in Parliament.

In an address to the nation, Macron rejected calls from opponents to resign, saying he would remain president “fully, until the end of the mandate” in 2027 and also lashed out at the French far right and hard left for uniting in an “anti-republican front” to bring down the government.

Macron came out fighting a day after a historic no-confidence vote at the Assemblée Nationale left France without a functioning government. He said he’d name a new prime minister within days but gave no hints who that might be. He explained this person would be charged with forming a “government of general interest” with a priority of passing a budget.

Earlier in the day, Macron “took note” of Barnier’s resignation, the Elysée presidential palace said in a statement. 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 Assemblée Nationale, forcing Barnier to step down after just three months in office – the shortest tenure of any prime minister in modern French history.

Macron laid blame at the door of his opponents on the far right for bringing down Barnier’s government. He said they chose “Not to do but to undo.” “They chose disorder,” he added, stressing, “I won’t shoulder other people’s irresponsibility.”

“They are not thinking about your lives, let’s be honest. They are thinking of just one thing – the presidential election,” said Macron, who must step down at the end of his term. But he admitted his decision to call snap parliamentary elections this summer, which resulted in a hung Parliament, “was not understood.”

“Many have blamed me for it and I know, many continue to blame me. It’s a fact and it’s my responsibility,” he said. However, he argued, “I believe it was necessary” to let French voters speak.

The next priority

The next prioristy is to pass a budget law. Macron said the new prime minister “will be charged with forming a government of general interest.”

He confirmed that a special law will be presented by mid-December to enable the state to levy taxes from Jan. 1, based on this year’s rules, and avoid a shutdown. “Public services will be operational, businesses will be able to work,” he said.

The new government will then prepare a budget law for 2025, which will allow France to invest as planned in its military, its justice and police — and also to support struggling farmers, Macron said.

Along with its own domestic political and financial difficulties — not least France’s ballooning levels of debt — Macron noted that the country faces multiple international challenges, citing the wars in Ukraine and Middle East .

He looked back at the Paris Olympics in July-August and ahead to the reopening this weekend of Notre Dame Cathedral , arguing that France can emerge from this latest political crisis if it sets its mind on it.

“It’s proof that we know how to do great things, that we know how to achieve the impossible,” he said.

“Twice this year, the world has admired us for this,” he said, referring to the hosting of the Olympics and the restoration of Notre Dame. “Well, for the nation, we must do same thing.”

Pressure to act swiftly

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 Assemblée Nationale 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.”

Macron took more than two months to appoint Barnier after his party’s defeat in June’s legislative elections. The no-confidence vote has also galvanized opposition leaders, with some explicitly calling for Macron’s resignation.

“I believe that stability requires the departure of the president of the Republic,” said Manuel Bompard, leader of the far-left La France Insoumise party, on BFM TV Wednesday night.

Far-right Rassemblement National politician Marine Le Pen, whose party holds the most seats in the Assemblée, stopped short of calling for Macron’s resignation but warned that “the pressure on the president of the Republic will get stronger and stronger.”

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 Assemblée Nationale.

“I was elected to serve until 2027, and I will fulfill 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.