Macron names François Bayrou as French prime minister after government collapse

French President Emmanuel Macron named François Bayrou, a centrist ally, as prime minister on Friday, in a bid to restore stability after a no-confidence vote toppled the shortest-serving government in the modern French republic.

The new prime minister must now try to cobble together a government and get a handle on France’s spiraling deficit and debt burden – in a way that satisfies enough of the warring political factions to keep everything from crashing down again.

European allies are looking for France and neighboring Germany, also in political and financial turmoil, to get their affairs in order at a time when President-elect Donald Trump is threatening to launch a trade war and to pivot the U.S. position on Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The appointment of 73-year-old Bayrou – a well-known name in French politics and a longtime Macron ally – came after a nearly two-hour meeting with the president at the Élysée Palace on Friday morning.

“No one knows the difficulty of the situation better than I do,” Bayrou said during a red-carpet ceremony for the transition of power at the prime minister’s official residence. He acknowledged the extent of the challenges that lie ahead, called for reconciliation of acrimonious divisions and described curbing debt as not only a financial priority but a “moral” issue.

Facing backlash over the political turmoil, Macron has called on the country’s fractious parties to make compromises in the national interest. He held consultations with the leaders of different blocs in the lead-up to Friday’s announcement. The far-right and far-left parties that pushed for the no-confidence vote have not been included in the talks.

France has alternated through periods of political chaos and paralysis since June, when Macron announced early legislative elections. Strategic coordination between a left-wing alliance and centrist parties blocked a far-right win, but the election resulted in a bitterly divided legislature. And the government that took office in September was threatened with collapse at any moment – its fate ultimately resting in the hands of far-right leader Marine Le Pen.

Last week, Le Pen decided to wield her sword. Her party added its votes to those of the left-wing New Popular Front in an unusual combination to overthrow the government.

Whether she will maintain as much power over the next administration will depend on whether Bayrou can garner a broader base of support – and his odds of lasting longer than his predecessor were not immediately clear.

Le Pen said Friday that the new prime minister would have to “listen to the opposition to build a reasonable and thoughtful budget.” Otherwise, she said, he risked “impasse and failure.”

Le Pen, who has long sought the presidency, is among the Macron critics on the far right and far left who have called on him to resign. He has pledged to serve out his term, which ends in 2027. But if his opponents manage to bring down successive governments, that would pile further pressure on the president.

Le Pen, meanwhile, is awaiting a verdict in a trial accusing her of misusing European funds, and if found guilty, she could be banned from running for president.

To secure wider support and strip Le Pen of some influence, the new prime minister is expected to try to win over some on the left and will probably have to offer concessions on the budget. “Much will depend on the success or failure of his overtures,” said Mujtaba Rahman, managing director for Europe at the Eurasia Group consultancy.

On the left, Friday’s announcement brought mixed reactions. The hard-left France Unbowed, a key force in the broad left-wing alliance and a fierce opponent of Macron, rejected Bayrou as “a continuation” of the president’s policies.

The Socalists criticized Macron for picking from his own camp, while suggesting that the new government could avoid collapse if it doesn’t force through changes without a vote or “place itself under the dependence” of the anti-immigrant National Rally.

Most immediately, France is scrambling to avoid an American-style government shutdown.

The outgoing government, serving in a caretaker role, put forward emergency legislation slated to go to Parliament on Monday that would roll over provisions of the 2024 budget, allowing essential government services and tax collection and borrowing to continue.

The measure, however, is only a temporary fix for a financial crunch that has seen French bond yields – the interest paid on debt – surpass those of Greece, the country that sparked the euro zone’s debt crisis more than a decade ago.

Drafting a new budget palatable to ideologically opposed political factions will be the No. 1 priority of the new prime minister and his government. Investors and European officials remain alarmed by the French budget deficit, which, at more than 6 percent, is well over the European Union’s 3 percent limit. The temporary budget also delays a planned 3.3 billion euro ($3.5 billion) increase in military spending seen as vital to country’s multiyear defense plan.

Bayrou becomes France’s fourth prime minister this year and the sixth of Macron’s two-term presidency. While the prime minister’s job does not hold as much sway on the world stage as the presidency, it is essential for moving forward the domestic agenda – and seen as especially critical now, with the country’s political stability at stake.

A former justice minister, a three-time presidential candidate, and a mayor in southwestern France, Bayrou heads the Democratic Movement, which is allied to Macron’s party. He was cleared in February in a case alleging misuse of European Parliament funds.

Michel Barnier, who on Friday became a former French prime minister, is a veteran French politician and the European Union’s former Brexit negotiator. But, contending with polarized politics and the difficult mission of reining in spending, he ultimately spent just three months as head of government.