French President Emmanuel Macron met with allies and senior politicians on December 5 as he sought to swiftly appoint a new prime minister, a day after hard-right and leftist lawmakers toppled Michel Barnier’s minority government.
Francois Bayrou, whose name is often cited by French media as a possible successor to Barnier, was due to have lunch with Macron, Le Parisien newspaper and other media reported.
Bayrou is a veteran centrist politician and a close Macron ally.
Outgoing defence minister Sebastien Lecornu is also cited as a possible candidate for prime minister. There was no word yet of a possible Macron meeting with him.
Three sources told Reuters on December 4 that Macron aimed to appoint a replacement swiftly, with one saying he wanted to do so before a ceremony on Saturday to reopen Notre Dame Cathedral renovated after a devastating fire.
Allies in Macron‘s own camp joined the chorus urging swift action.
After the late June and early July snap elections, it took Macron nearly two months to appoint Barnier.
“I recommend that he proceed quickly to the appointment of a prime minister, it’s important, we must not leave things up in the air,” National Assembly president Yaël Braun-Pivet told France Inter radio before meeting Macron on December 5.
Macron is due to give a televised address to the nation late on December 5.
Barnier, a veteran conservative who became prime minister barely three months ago, will become the shortest-serving prime minister in modern French history when Macron approves his resignation.
France’s National Assembly has ousted Prime Minister Michel Barnier, with Marine Le Pen’s National Rally and La France Insoumise finding 331 votes out of 577 in a no-confidence motion. https://t.co/xuzL0tDC1w
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) December 5, 2024
The political turmoil in France further weakens a European Union already reeling from the implosion of Germany’s coalition government and comes just weeks before Trump returns to the White House.
Any new prime minister will face the same challenges that led to Barnier’s downfall, notably pushing the 2025 budget through a deeply divided parliament at a time when France needs to fix its ailing public finances.
“This is the logical conclusion of what France and its lawmakers are at the moment: a mess,” 75-year old Parisian Paulo told Reuters, commenting on the latest developments.
Macron precipitated the current crisis with an ill-fated decision to call the snap election in June.
He has a mandate until 2027 but faces growing calls to resign.
“The main culprit for the current situation is Emmanuel Macron,” said Marine Le Pen of the hard-right National Rally (RN).
A French president cannot be pushed out unless two-thirds of lawmakers decide he has gravely failed to fulfil his role.
Left-wing lawmakers attempted to impeach the President in October by initiating impeachment proceedings.
More than 300,000 people have signed the hard-left La France Insoumise's petition calling for French President Emmanuel Macron’s impeachment, the party has announced. https://t.co/Hdaxbnoi5J
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) September 17, 2024
Some 64 per cent of voters want Macron to resign, according to the Toluna Harris Interactive poll for RTL broadcaster.
A small majority of voters approve of parliament bringing down Barnier, but many are worried about its economic and political consequences, the poll showed.
Under French constitutional rules, there can be no new parliamentary election before July.
“Until potential new elections, ongoing political uncertainty is likely to keep the risk premium on French assets elevated,” Société Générale bank analysts said in a note.
“Political uncertainty is likely to dampen both investment and consumer spending.”
The political uncertainty has been unnerving investors in French sovereign bonds and stocks for weeks.
French bonds and stocks rallied on Thursday on what some traders said was profit-taking following the widely expected outcome of the no-confidence vote. But the relief rally is unlikely to last, given the scale of political uncertainty.
The fall of France’s government leaves the country without a clear path towards reducing its fiscal deficit and the most likely outcome is less belt-tightening than previously planned, credit rating agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P) said.
