French President Emmanuel Macron has resigned, saying he will remain in power until the end of his term in 2027 and will appoint a new prime minister in the next few days after the government is in power. historical collapse France plunged into a state of turmoil.
“You gave me a five-year popular mandate, and I will complete it until the end,” he said in a televised speech to the French people late Thursday.
Macron, who is against the worst political crisis A two-term president, he criticized what he called “cynicism”, a lack of responsibility and a “sense of chaos” of the opposition politicians, who pulled the government in a vote of no confidence on Wednesday, closing the beleaguered minority of the first coalition of the right. the minister, Michel Barnier, after only three months.
Macron said that he himself was not caught up in the chaos. He said: “I will not answer on the shoulders of others”, he will install the prime minister “in the coming days” and instruct them to make the government “in common matters, and to designate all the political forces that can be involved”; who indeed said that he would not accept the republic.
Wednesday’s no-confidence vote by a coalition of left-wing parties as well as MPs from the anti-immigration Marine Le Pen, far from the national right to run, with a total of 331 legislators – a clear majority – may collapse the vote. Macron accused Le Pen’s party of “choosing disorder”.
France, which faces a public deficit of growth, is at risk without ending in 2025 budget or a stable government, although the constitution allows for special measures that avert a US-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. He will be the fourth prime minister of France this year.
The Elysée Palace is keen to limit any impression of political chaos as Macron prepares to host a host of world leaders on Saturday – including US President-elect Donald Trump – for refreshments. Cathedral of the Archdiocese Paris after the 2019 fire devastation.
Macron said that by restoring Notre Dame and delivering the Olympics and Paralympics, France had shown “great things … we can do the impossible.”
Yaël Braun-Pivet, president of the National Assembly and a member of Macron’s centrist party, said France could not “go too far”. “Let there be no doubt about the state. We need a leader who can speak to everyone and we need a new budget bill.
As France enters a period of political turmoil, the Elysée government told Barnier about the current problems until a new government is formed.
No new parliamentary elections can be called before August 2025, limiting Macron’s options with a deeply divided national assembly.
Among the speculations, who could replace Barnier as prime minister Macron had lunch with Francois Bayrou, an ally and veteran political leader. Outgoing defense minister Sébastien Lecornu has denied that he is in the running.
Socialists, Communists and other figures in leftist society said the new prime minister should come from the left. Bruno Retaileau, the right-wing interior minister in the Barnier government, said the new prime minister must come from the right, saying “France is doing right”.
Since Macron called the election snap and inconclusive in June, the French parliament is divided among three groups with no absolute majority. The left party received the majority of the votes, but the majority failed absolutely; Macron’s centrist group suffered losses but is still standing and Le Pen’s National Party won seats but was kept out of power by the military’s imperialist left and center.
“We are now calling for Macron to,” said Mathilde Panot, head of Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s left-wing parliamentary party, La France Insoumise, which called for “first presidential elections.”
Notably, Le Pen did not immediately demand Macron’s resignation, but said the pressure on him was growing.
A poll by Odoxa Backbone Consultancy for Le Figaro found that 52% of the French people thought a vote of no confidence was “good”. Among voters for Le Pen National, this rose to 72%. “The majority of National Party voters think that this is all Emmanuel Macron’s fault,” Gaël Sliman, head of polling, told Le Figaro. “But some” [National Rally voters]28% remain concerned about the potential consequences.
Wednesday’s vote was the country’s first successful no-confidence vote since the overthrow of Georges Pompidou’s government in 1962, when Charles de Gaulle was president. The Barnier government had the shortest period of administration of any French Fifth Republic, which began in 1958.
Barnier, the EU’s former Brexit negotiator, was appointed by Macron in September after two months of political paralysis this summer.
Barnier’s main task, which proved his downfall, was the vote on the budget for 2025 in which he said he had started the French parliament with €60bn in tax increases and cuts. But after weeks of stalling over the budget, Barnier on Monday pushed through the social security bill, using article 49.3 of the constitution, which allows the government to pass laws without a vote in parliament. This prompted a vote of no confidence.
Barnier’s minority coalition was supported by Le Pen, who, despite being out of government, tried to appease Barnier’s unusual position of overbearingness by preventing him from joining the party in a no-confidence vote. Barnier had dealt directly with her, culminating in the demands of her budget.
But Le Pen pulled the trigger, saying Barnier’s budget was a danger to the country. French TV reported on Thursday that the voting system would be changed and proportional representation would be introduced.
If parliament does not pass the budget by December 20, the government can propose emergency legislation that would impose limits on spending and tax provisions from 2024, pending the arrival of a new government and a new 2025 budget bill.
“France will probably not have an economy in 2025,” ING Economics said in a note, adding that the country “is about to enter a new period of political instability.”
Moody’s, a rating agency, warned that Barnier’s case would “deepen the country’s political stalemate” and “reduce the probability of consolidation of public funds”.