Key events
As we wait for Macron to speak, itâs worth highlighting that the roots of this crisis stretch back to June, when Macronâs decided to dissolve parliament and hold early elections after his centrist forces suffered a humiliating defeat in the European parliament elections.
The results of the French election yielded a divided parliament of three roughly equal blocs â left, centre and right/far right â none of which had a majority.
After it emerged as the largest parliamentary force, the leftwing NFP said it should name the new head of government. Macron rejected this, instead appointing Barnier and giving rise to a tenuous alliance of centrist and centre-right MPs.
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One day after France was plunged into political uncertainty, all eyes are on Emmanuel Macron. The French president is expected to address the nation at 8pm local time (CET), as he fends off growing pressure for him to swiftly appoint a new prime minister following the French governmentâs historic collapse.
Earlier today Macron met with the rightwing prime minister, Michel Barnier, who handed in his resignation letter, one day after his minority coalition government became the first to be toppled by a no-confidence vote in more than 60 years.
The political turmoil gripping France has rattled investors and risks weakening a European Union that is already reeling from the implosion of Germanyâs coalition government and scrambling to present a united front before Donald Trumpâs return to the White House.
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