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