Macron Refuses to Resign after Collapse of French Government

Emmanuel Macron has refused to take responsibility for the fall of Michel Barnier’s government, accusing “cynical” and “anti-Republican” opposition politicians of putting presidential ambitions before those of the nation.

In a defiant 10-minute televised address on Thursday, Mr Macron, 46, ruled out stepping down more than two years before the end of his term, saying he would carry his “full mandate” until 2027.

The French president pledged to appoint a new prime minister “in the coming days” and that early next year a new government of the willing would draft a new budget bill.

Mr Barnier, 73, on Thursday tendered his resignation after losing a vote of no-confidence in his government the previous day, meaning France’s oldest prime minister also became its shortest-lived.

He and his ministers remain “in charge of daily business until the appointment of a new government”, said the Élysée.

In his short address, Mr Macron sought to set the record straight with the opposition and the French electorate.

Thanking Mr Barnier who had “risen to the occasion, as so many others have not”, Mr Macron said he took full responsibility for his decision to call snap elections in June and July, which he said had been “misunderstood” and “criticised”.

But he said French voters were responsible for electing a hung parliament and French MPs and political party leaders, meanwhile, were to blame for the current political turmoil France finds itself in.

“I’m well aware that some people are tempted to blame me for this situation. It’s much more comfortable,” he said.

“I will never assume the irresponsibility of others, and in particular of the MPs who have consciously chosen to bring down France’s budget and government just a few days before Christmas.”

He lashed out at Marine Le Pen’s National Rally that “chose to vote a motion of no-confidence that said the opposite of their programme, that insulted their own voters”.

“In so doing, they simply chose the disorder that is the only project that unites them with the far Left… not to do, but to undo, to create disorder,” he said.

“They’re not thinking about you… let’s be honest, they’re thinking about only one thing, the presidential election.

“To prepare for it, to provoke it, to precipitate it, and that with cynicism, if necessary, and a certain sense of chaos.”

Ms Le Pen on Thursday said it was not the right time for the French president to step aside.

Instead, the populist opposition figure vowed to “work together” with the next prime minister and insisted that a budget could be passed within weeks.

But polls on Thursday suggest the French hold him largely responsible for bringing about the worst political crisis France has known since 1958 when Charles de Gaulle came back from retirement to form the Fifth Republic and avoid civil war.

An Odaxa Backbone survey found six out of ten now want the president to step down with a Toluna Harris Interactive poll suggesting an even higher amount, 64 per cent wanted him to go.

Mathilde Panot, head of the parliamentary faction of the hard-Left France Unbowed (LFI) party, urged “early presidential elections, saying: “We are now calling on Macron to go.”

Mr Macron said he would not be stepping down until 2027 and under French law there could be no new legislative elections until next July.

Squabbling French politicians would have to grow up and work together to avoid economic meltdown by passing a new budget bill in the new year.

Not for the first time, he urged them to take inspiration from the rebuilding of Notre-Dame Cathedral, which will be reopened on Saturday.

“It’s proof that we can do great things, that we can do the impossible,” he said.

“Well, it’s the same thing we need to do for the nation,” he added, calling on parliament to “find compromises, a sense of responsibility and respect”.

Meanwhile, speculation is rife over who Mr Macron will appoint to succeed Mr Barnier.

Various sources said he wants to appoint a replacement before dozens of heads of state, including Donald Trump, the  US president elect, descend on Paris for a ceremony on Saturday to reopen Notre-Dame.

Sébastien Lecornu, the loyalist defence minister and François Bayrou, Mr Macron’s centrist ally, have been touted as possible contenders, as has Bernard Cazeneuve, the former Socialist premier and interior minister.

“The world, Europe, are moving ahead, and we need a government that can take decisions,” said Mr Macron.

“We cannot allow ourselves neither division nor immobility. That is why I will name a prime minister in the coming days.”