France’s embattled president Emmanuel Macron has appointed centrist ally François Bayrou as prime minister, he announced on Friday, as he seeks to calm a political crisis that has left his authority dwindling by the day, reports CNN.
Macron’s office made the announcement a week after the former office holder Michel Barnier lost a vote of no confidence, forcing him to submit his resignation.
Bayrou ran for president three times before rallying behind Macron in 2017. The 73-year-old is the founder of the centrist Democratic Movement political party (MoDem), and mayor of the southwestern town of Pau.
He must now form a government and look to pass a budget through a sharply divided parliament, where Macron faces an avowed opposition from both the left-wing and far-right blocs.
Barnier’s minority government collapsed after just three months as it attempted to pass a 2025 budget, which included €60 billion ($62.9 billion) worth of tax hikes.