France appoints Francois Bayrou as new prime minister
Francois Bayrou, head of the MoDem party, has been appointed the new Prime Minister of France, as announced by the Élysée Palace. The previous government was forced to resign following a vote of no confidence.
The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, appointed the head of the MoDem party, Francois Bayrou, as the new Prime Minister and tasked him with forming a government, the Élysée Palace announced on Friday.
Francois Bayrou is the 73-year-old founder of the centrist MoDem party and a political ally of Macron. In recent days, the media indicated that Bayrou was the most likely candidate for the premiership.
The shortest government of the Fifth Republic
At the beginning of December, the left-wing New People's Front (NFP) and the far-right National Rally (RN) submitted motions of no confidence. On December 4th, the French Parliament adopted the motion of no confidence against Michel Barnier’s government.
The motion was supported by 331 deputies from the left and far-right. A total of 289 votes were required for its adoption. The political situation in France was tense because Barnier's government did not have a majority in Parliament.
Michel Barnier's centre-right government was appointed on September 21st. The cabinet went down in history as the shortest in the history of the Fifth Republic, dating back to 1958. The last time a French government fell due to a vote of no confidence was in 1962.
