Macron nominates Francois Bayrou as new French PM

Paris (The Uttam Hindu): French President Emmanuel Macron has nominated Francois Bayrou as the country's new Prime Minister, the Elysee announced. Bayrou has now been tasked with forming a government, Macron's office said. He will also make a 2025 budget to be adopted by the National Assembly, reports Xinhua news agency.

Bayrou is a centrist ally of Macron and succeeds Michel Barnier, who was ousted in a vote of no confidence on December 4. Born in 1952, Bayrou founded the centrist party Democratic Movement (MoDem) in 2007. He ran as a presidential candidate three times, in 2002, 2007, and 2012.

Following the Elysee's announcement on Friday, the President of the far-right wing party National Rally (RN), Jordan Bardella, told French news channel BFMTV that his party would not immediately censor Bayrou but added that Bayrou should "understand that he has no democratic legitimacy nor the majority in the National Assembly, which requires a dialogue with all the forces represented in the parliament." Meanwhile, the hard-left party La France Insoumise (LFI) has announced it will launch a no-confidence vote to bring down Bayrou.

LFI has repeatedly said that the position of Prime Minister should be given to someone from the alliance of left-wing parties, which won the most seats in the snap legislative elections held this year. Speaking to the press Friday afternoon, Bayrou stressed the need for a reconciliation. "Everyone understands the difficulty of the task...There is a path to be found that unites people instead of dividing them," he said. Michel Barnier congratulated his successor in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying: "In this serious time for France and for Europe, all my personal and friendly wishes for his action as the head of the government." The transfer of power ceremony is scheduled for 5 p.m. local time.

On December 4, the French National Assembly voted in favour of a no-confidence motion against Barnier, compelling him to resign and causing the government to collapse. Barnier's government became the first to fall to a no-confidence vote since 1962.