France’s new premier hopes to form Cabinet 'in coming days'

By Nur Asena Erturk

France's new Prime Minister Francois Bayrou expressed his desire to form a new government "in the coming days" with President Emmanuel Macron's consultation.

Bayrou made these remarks during a question-and-answer session in the lower chamber of parliament, also known as the National Assembly, primarily about the situation on the overseas island of Mayotte, which was devastated by Cyclone Chido over the weekend.

"I intend to suggest the president form the government, which I hope to do in the coming days," the premier told lawmakers during the session.

Macron and Bayrou met earlier on Tuesday to discuss efforts to form a new government, according to broadcaster BFMTV.

Bayrou already initiated talks with political parties on Monday.

The premier also vowed not to abandon the budget issue after lawmakers rejected his predecessor Michel Barnier's 2025 budget bill, which was followed by a no-confidence vote that resulted in his ouster, leaving the country without a budget for the new year.

The no-confidence vote on Dec. 4 came two days after Barnier used his discretionary powers to pass the contentious social security budget bill without a vote in parliament.

After the government collapsed, Macron announced that a special budget law should be debated and adopted by lawmakers by the end of this year before beginning work on a new budget for 2025.

- Political instability haunts country since June

The country has been in political upheaval since June when Macron's centrist bloc failed and the far-right party National Rally (RN) won the European Parliament elections.

In response, Macron called for two rounds of snap parliamentary elections on June 30 and July 7, but no party won 289 seats, a threshold to achieve an absolute majority in the National Assembly.

The left-wing alliance New Popular Front (NFP) won the most votes and seats in parliament in the second round and later insisted that the prime minister must be from the alliance, but it failed to nominate a consensus candidate for the position immediately.

After weeks of internal divisions, the NFP nominated Lucie Castets for prime minister on July 23.

However, Macron rejected a left-wing candidate and said he would not appoint a premier until mid-August after the Paris Olympics.

He faced criticism for delaying the process, fueling further instability after he accepted then-Premier Gabriel Attal's resignation on July 16 after initially rejecting it on July 8.

On Sept. 5, Macron finally appointed Barnier, a center-right politician, former European commissioner, and former foreign minister, as the prime minister.

Barnier's government became the first one to collapse with a no-confidence vote since 1962 and only lasted three months.