By Nur Asena Erturk
French President Emmanuel Macron intends to appoint a new prime minister "in 48 hours," according to local media on Tuesday, as parliament voted to oust Premier Michel Barnier and his government through a no-confidence vote last week.
Macron held a meeting with representatives of political parties at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris, where he reportedly said he wishes to name a new premier "in 48 hours," broadcaster BFMTV reported, citing attendees.
Marine Tondelier, the ecologist party’s national secretary, told reporters following the meeting that Macron "made no compromise, no concessions," and the presidential side did not "move an inch."
Olivier Faure, the head of the Socialist Party, who spoke to the media ahead of the meeting, called on Macron to name a premier from the left wing.
The far-right party National Rally (RN) was once again excluded from the meeting. Laurent Jacobelli, the deputy chief of the party’s parliamentary group, told BFMTV that Macron, by doing so, showed that the RN is the "only opposition party."
Macron also did not invite the left-wing France Unbowed party after the party declined the invitation to the first round of talks.
Last week, the French president said he would appoint a new premier "in the coming days" after Barnier and his government lost a no-confidence vote.
The vote came two days after he used his discretionary powers to pass the much-debated social security budget bill without voting in parliament.
As the country is facing winter without a budget for 2025 since the whole bill was also canceled last week, a "special budget law" announced by Macron would be submitted to the parliament next week. The lawmakers are set to debate the "temporary" law on Dec. 16.
- 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 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 has become the first one to collapse with a no-confidence vote since 1962.