Paris (AFP) — French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou was on Tuesday to submit his resignation to President Emmanuel Macron after parliament ousted the government, with the French leader rushing to find a successor and stave off a new political crisis.
On Monday, Bayrou suffered a crushing loss in a confidence vote he had himself called, plunging France into fresh uncertainty and leaving Macron with the task of finding the seventh premier of his mandate.
The French presidency said in a statement that Macron “took note” of the outcome and said he would name a new premier “in the next days,” ending any remaining speculation that the president could instead call snap elections.
Macron will meet Bayrou on Tuesday “to accept the resignation of his government,” it added. The formal submission of his resignation was expected in the middle of the day.
The French president has in the past been notoriously slow in “casting” a new prime minister. But he is widely expected on this occasion not to procrastinate given the risk of financial and political stability.
“Emmanuel Macron is now in the front line to find a solution to the political crisis,” said the Liberation daily.
France’s borrowing costs, a measure of investor confidence in a country, on Tuesday surged slightly higher than those for Italy, long one of Europe’s debt laggards.
Bayrou had blindsided even his allies by calling a confidence vote to end a lengthy standoff over his austerity budget, which foresaw almost 44 billion euros ($52 billion) of cost savings to reduce France’s debt pile.
In the vote in the National Assembly, 364 deputies voted that they had no confidence in the government while just 194 gave it their confidence.
Bayrou was the sixth prime minister under Macron since his 2017 election, and the fifth since 2022. His predecessor Michel Barnier was brought down by a no-confidence vote in December and the crisis dates back to summer 2024 legislative elections that resulted in a hung parliament.
“Emmanuel Macron, a vulnerable president,” said the Le Monde daily, adding that he was now “under pressure” to find a new prime minister.
Macron “will move rapidly to replace Bayrou,” said the Eurasia Group risk analysis firm, adding he will seek to “head off a full-scale market and constitutional crisis.”
Macron, who has been leading diplomatic efforts internationally to end Russia’s war on Ukraine, now faces one of the most critical domestic decisions of his presidency over who to appoint as premier.
The Socialist Party (PS) has expressed readiness to lead a new government but it is far from clear whether such an administration led by a figure such as PS leader Olivier Faure could survive.
“I think it’s time for the left to govern this country again and make sure we can break with the policies of the last eight years,” Faure told TF1 television.
Heavyweight right-wing cabinet ministers, such as Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin, are trusted by Macron but risk being voted out by the left.
Lower-profile options who could find a center-left consensus include Health Minister Catherine Vautrin or Finance Minister Eric Lombard.
