French President Emmanuel Macron Says He Will Appoint New Prime Minister and Finish His Five-Year Mandate After Government Gets Toppled

variety.com:

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent French President Emmanuel Macron said in a televised address on Thursday evening that he will finish his five-year mandate which ends in 2027 despite pressure for him to resign amid the fall of the government.

The government was toppled Wednesday after the parliament gave a no-confidence vote in Prime Minister Michel Barnier. It marks the first time a French government has been voted down by parliament in more than 60 years, since the defeat for Georges Pompidou’s government in 1962.

The worst enemies in French politics, Marine Le Pen’s far right and the leftist New Popular Front – who nevertheless share a penchant for populism — came together to prompt the fall of Barnier’s government after he used special powers to force through an austerity budget for next year without a vote.

A total of 331 voted in support of the motion, exceeding the 288 required for it to pass. The government “has been censured,” said Macron, “for the first time this has happened in 60 years, because the far right and the far left have united in an anti-republican front.