Macron appoints third prime minister in 2024
French President Emmanuel Macron has appointed his third prime minister this year, after the two previous heads of government resigned after just months in office.
Veteran centrist Francois Bayrou was announced as the new premier on Friday after a “tense” two-hour meeting with Macron, Politico reported. The 73-year-old politician, who is a former presidential candidate, will now try to steer France out of a political and budgetary quagmire.
“The president of the Republic has appointed Mr Francois Bayrou as prime minister and tasked him with forming a government,” the French presidency said.
Bayrou’s predecessor, Michel Barnier, had been in office for just over three months. He resigned on December 5 after losing a no-confidence motion in parliament.
Barnier was ousted after trying to pass a slimmed-down 2025 budget plan. The prime minister had argued that austerity measures were necessary to rein in France’s budget deficit, which is expected to be 6.1% of the country’s economic output this year – double the limit set by the EU.
Barnier’s predecessor, Gabriel Attal, who had been prime minister since January, resigned in July following a snap parliamentary election that resulted in a hung parliament comprising three warring blocs.
Macron called a snap election in June after his Renaissance party was dealt a massive defeat by the right-wing opposition National Rally (RN) in the European parliamentary elections.
As a result of the snap vote, the left-wing New Popular Front (NPF) coalition won the most seats in the French parliament as part of a pact with the president to sideline RN. Macron, however, then turned around and snubbed the NPF in favor of a minority cabinet that relied on the tacit support of RN.
Bayrou, a long-time ally of Macron, is likely to face the same difficulties as Barnier in steering legislation through the hung parliament, Reuters said. His proximity to the deeply unpopular Macron will also prove to be a vulnerability, added the agency.
Macron’s term ends in 2027, and some opponents have called on him to resign, something which the president has ruled out.
Bayrou is the founder of the Democratic Movement party, which has been part of Macron’s ruling alliance since 2017. He ran for president in 2002, 2007 and 2012. He served as education minister between 1993 and 1997.
In 2017, Macron appointed Bayrou as justice minister, but he resigned weeks later amid an investigation into his party’s alleged fraudulent employment of parliamentary assistants. He was cleared of fraud charges in February.
