Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
FRENCH PRESIDENT EMMANUEL Macron has 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.
Barnier earlier handed in his resignation to Macron, following his loss in a vote of no confidence in parliament last night, with the president urgently seeking ways to halt growing political and financial chaos.
According to a statement today, Barnier will stay on in a caretaker role until a new government can be appointed.
“The prime minister today submitted the resignation of his government” to President Emmanuel Macron, who has “taken note” of the resignation, the president’s Elysee Palace said.
Barnier and his ministers remain “in charge of daily business until the appointment of a new government”, it added.
Poised to be contemporary France’s shortest-serving premier, Barnier arrived at the Elysee Palace just after 9am Ireland time this morning for the resignation formality.
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.
He also lashed out at the French far right and hard left for uniting in an “anti-republican front” to bring down the government.
“I will appoint a prime minister in the coming days,” he said, adding this person would be charged with forming a “government of general interest” with a priority of passing a budget.
Defiantly rejecting resignation calls, he added: “The mandate that you gave to me democratically [in 2022 elections] is a five-year mandate and I will exercise it fully, right up to the end.”
He said the far-right National Rally (RN) of Marine Le Pen had its eyes on the 2027 presidential elections, accusing the party of seeking to sow “chaos”.
“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.
© Agence France-Presse
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Ol’ granny used say ” you made your bed, now lie in it”.
@Kevvy kerrr: hey frank/kevvy/doe/william, we saw where you logged into the wrong account when responding, do we need to show you again? Everyone knows about your conviction. Saw it today in a comment from Brendan.
@9QRixo8H: jesus you’re like a love sick puppy following them around.
@9QRixo8H: as much as I try….. really can’t take this account seriously after all that CRYING ‘ madam president ‘ nonsense you spouted leading up to US election
@D. Peadar:
Are you alright in the head, Madam President?
@Ger Whelan: they have mange too
If the Hard Left and the Far Right do the same after one year of govt, wouldnt it force a general election? And didn’t the Left get the most seats? Macron will need to settle with a Left PM or he will lose the next no-confidence motion again
@F1rYnpWc: they can’t have another general election until next year unless Macron steps down. Why does it need to be a left pm? The left did vote Barnier out on their own. They couldn’t, they right voted with them to remove him.
@F1rYnpWc: what’s the difference in hard left and far left, and far right and hard right?
@Ger Whelan: who won the most seats?
@Maximilian Kolbe: you haven’t read the article?
@F1rYnpWc: the left. Did they win enough to form a government? No they didn’t. Did they win enough to collapse a government on their own? No they didn’t. So it doesn’t matter does it?
Give it up pal. You’re finished!
He should take micky martin and Harris over there they would sort them out ya think?
Just resign Macron and get a job.
The storming of the Bastille is in for a modern re make. This Woke failure has destroyed France, a country that will end up in Civil War within a decade & split. He & Merkel will go down in history as those that were responsible for the collapse of the EU. They all talk about the danger of Putin, he must be laughing at them, as he won’t have to invade, the invasion force has been arriving for a decade now, flooding EU countries with Immigrants, bringing countries Housing, Health Services, Social Services, to the point of collapse & is going to be responsible for the collapse of the EU from within. Macron should be thrown out of office by the people now
have your say