Seoul Gazette - Defiant Macron seeks new French PM, exit from crisis

Macron adopted a defiant tone in an address to the nation late Thursday, 24 hours after Prime Minister Michel Barnier's government was ousted in a historic no-confidence vote.

Macron vowed to name a new prime minister in the coming days, rejected growing pressure from the opposition to resign and blamed an "anti-republican front" of the hard left and far right for France's woes.

Contemporary France's shortest-serving premier, Barnier resigned after Wednesday's parliamentary defeat in a standoff over the budget forced his government to step down, the first such toppling of a French administration in more than 60 years.

"I will appoint a prime minister in the coming days," Macron said, adding this person would be charged with forming a "government of general interest" with a priority of passing a budget.

The French presidency said earlier that Barnier and his ministers would remain "in charge of daily business until the appointment of a new government".

Macron is on Friday to meet leaders of the parliamentary factions of his own centrist forces, the Socialist Party and the right-wing Republicans to continue the search for a compromise, presidential sources said.

The hard-left France Unbowed and far-right National Rally (RN) have not been invited at this stage.

- 'Do the impossible' -

Limiting any impression of political chaos is all the more important for Macron given that on Saturday he will host world leaders -- including US President-elect Donald Trump -- for the reopening of the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris after a devastating 2019 fire.

Pointing to how the edifice was rebuilt within the five-year timeline he had set, Macron said: "It's the proof we're able to do great things, that we can do the impossible."

In an unusual move, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, France's top diplomat for just two-and-a-half months, urged unity in a message on social media, saying "instability is vulnerability" at a time of international uncertainty.

A majority of lawmakers on Wednesday supported the no-confidence vote proposed by the hard left and backed by the far right headed by Marine Le Pen.

Barnier's ejection in record time came after snap parliamentary elections in June resulted in a hung parliament. No political force was able to form an overall majority and the far right held the key to the government's survival.

The trigger for Barnier's ouster was his 2025 budget plan, including austerity measures unacceptable to a majority in parliament, but which he argued were necessary to stabilise France's finances.

On Monday he forced through a social security financing bill without a vote, but the ousting of the government means France is still without a budget.

- 'To the end' -

New legislative elections cannot be called until a year after the previous ones in summer 2024.

But while Macron has more than two years of his presidential term left, some opponents are calling on him to resign to break the deadlock.

According to a poll by Odoxa-Backbone Consulting for Le Figaro daily, 59 percent of French want the president to step down, while a survey by Harris for RTL put the figure even higher, at 64 percent.

But Macron said: "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."

"The 30 months we have ahead of us must be 30 months of useful action for the country."

Hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon said that Macron was the "cause of the problem" in France "and would go due to the force of events" before his term ends.

On its Friday front page, the left-wing daily Liberation accused Macron of "flagrant denial" of his responsibility in the crisis.

Barnier is Macron's fifth prime minister since coming to power in 2017. Each successive premier has served for a shorter period and, given the composition of the National Assembly, there is no guarantee that Barnier's successor would last any longer.

Loyalist Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu and Macron's centrist ally Francois Bayrou have been touted as possible contenders, as has former Socialist premier and interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve.

M.Joo--SG