Macron seeks new PM

PARIS, Dec 05 (AFP): President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday sought a new prime minister to prevent France from sliding deeper into political turmoil after Michel Barnier's government was ousted in a historic no-confidence vote in parliament.
Poised to be contemporary France's shortest-serving premier, Barnier met Macron at the Elysee Palace to submit his resignation, after the defeat in parliament on Wednesday forced his government to step down.
The vote was the first successful no-confidence action since a defeat for Georges Pompidou's government in 1962, when Charles de Gaulle was president.
Macron was to meet both upper and lower house parliament speakers before giving an address to the nation at 1900 GMT. The president is believed to be in a hurry to appoint the new premier to avoid a vacuum, according to multiple sources who spoke to AFP.
Limiting any impression of political chaos is all the more important for Macron who on Saturday will host world leaders-including US president-elect Donald Trump-for the reopening of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris after the devastating 2019 fire.
A majority of lawmakers on Wednesday supported the no-confidence vote proposed by the hard left and backed by the far right headed by Marine Le Pen.
Barnier's record-quick ejection comes after snap parliamentary elections in June resulted in a hung parliament with no political force able to form an overall majority and the far right holding the key to the government's survival.
The trigger for Barnier's ouster was his 2025 budget plan including austerity measures that were unacceptable to a majority in parliament, but that he argued were necessary to stabilise France's finances.
On Monday he forced through a social security financing bill without a vote, but the ousting of the government means France is still without a budget.
National Assembly Speaker Yael Braun-Pivet urged Macron to quickly choose a new premier, saying that France could not be allowed to "drift" for long.
"Macron alone in the face of an unprecedented political crisis," said the Le Monde daily in its headline.
"France probably won't have a 2025 budget," said ING Economics in a note, predicting that the country "is entering a new era of political instability".
Moody's, a ratings agency, warned that Barnier's fall "deepens the country's political stalemate" and "reduces the probability of a consolidation of public finances".
The Paris stock exchange fell at the opening on Thursday before recovering to show small gains. Yields on French government bonds were again under pressure in debt markets.
Strike calls across transport, education and other public sector services were maintained on Thursday despite the disappearance of the austerity budget that has prompted anger.