STANDING FIRM
Emmanuel Macron vows to remain as France’s president until 2027 with new prime minister to be named in ‘coming days’
'Where the country is vulnerable it needs to be rebuilt,' said the French president
EMMANUEL Macron has vowed to stay on as President of France until 2027.
Macron announced he is going to name the next French PM "in the coming days", and said the country cannot be "static".
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He pledged to remain French president until the end of his mandate, speaking at the Élysée Palace in Paris this evening.
"Where the country is vulnerable it needs to be rebuilt," said the French president.
"Wherever there is poor behaviour, we need to reintroduce wisdom, and wherever there is room for anxiety and despair, we need to bring hope."
"We have done it, and we will continue to show that to the world," he added.
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The president ended his speech: "Long live the republic, long live France."
His address comes after his prime minister Michel Barnier lost a no-confidence vote in France's parliament yesterday.
It is the first time in over six decades a French government has been voted down by parliament.
French MPs including the left and the far right combined voted 331 out of 574 in favour of the motion to pass, exceeding the minimum mark of 288.
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The vote rose from fierce opposition to his proposed social security budget for 2025 from opposition parties such as the left-wing alliance New Popular Front (NFP) and Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally (RN).
They were left angry after Barnier said he would push the budget through via a presidential decree, even though it failed to receive popular support from the MPs.
Such a move has become common under Macron's reign, who is accused of ignoring democracy and acting like a dictator.
Barnier, who served as one of the negotiators during Brexit, has now become his country’s shortest-serving prime minister ever.
He is not an elected MP and his downfall after only three months breaks a record previously held by Socialist prime minister Bernard Cazeneuve, who served for five months, up until May 2017.
Barnier has been asked to stay on as caretaker while Macron chooses a replacement.
Macron thanked Barnier for his "dedication" and "unwillingness to give up" at the start of his speech tonight.
He said some of his political groups have chosen "chaos", and that they "don't want to build, they want to dismantle".
But French president added his mandate is for five years and he "will see that through to the end".
"Today a new era begins", he said. "We need to work together for France."
France's leader said his focus is now on the 2025 budget and to make the country "stronger" and "fairer".
He added the government needs to keep "you and your children's interests at heart".
Before ending his speech, the president highlighted the reopening of Paris' Notre-Dame cathedral and the success of this summer's Olympics Games in the French capital.
He hailed France knows how to do "great things", and asked everyone to do "the same now".
Macron also confirmed there can't be any parliamentary elections for 10 months.
Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally party, has since released a statement on social media.
She wrote: "A little reminder to President Macron, who is supposed to be the guarantor of the Constitution: censorship is not anti-republican, it is provided for in the Constitution of our Fifth Republic."
The far-right leader previously said the president will need to meet certain requirements to get her side's backing for the next prime minister.
Before the collapse of the French government, Le Pen told the parliament: "We have arrived at the moment of truth."
However, France's hard left had urged Macron to resign.
Mathilde Panot, the leader of far-left France Unbowed who played a part in tabling the no-confidence vote, said: "We are now calling on Macron to go."
Macron, who just returned from a trip to Saudi Arabia, ruled out resigning himself, saying: "I was elected twice by the French people, and my priority is stability."
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Pledging to remain as President until 2027 – when his second term of office ends – Macron said he would stay "until the last second, so as to be useful to the country".
Far-Right opponents were showing some support for Mr Macron on Wednesday, with National Rally president Jordan Bardella saying he was "respectful of institutions" and "there is no justification at this time for the President of the Republic to leave".
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