No Resignation: President Macron to Serve Full Term Amid Government No-Confidence Vote

The current French President Emmanuel Macron has said that he will serve until the end of his presidential term to ensure the ‘continuity of the state’. He said this in an address to the nation broadcast live on French TV channels the night before. 

‘My responsibility requires me to ensure the continuity of the state, the proper functioning of our institutions, the independence of our country and the protection of all of you,’ the French leader said.

‘The mandate that you have democratically entrusted to me is a five-year mandate, and I will fulfil it in full until its completion,’ the French president stressed.

Macron also reiterated that his term of office expires in 30 months, and during this time he will work to make France ‘a stronger and fairer country’.

With this statement, he responded to calls from some MPs to resign following the vote of no confidence in the Barnier government passed by the French parliament the day before.

During his speech, Macron also promised to appoint a new prime minister ‘in the coming days’. 

As reported by The Gaze, the day before, the French National Assembly supported a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Michel Barnier. The vote was initiated by the far-right National Rally, together with the left-wing New People's Front coalition. The vote of no confidence in Barnier's government was passed by 331 MPs out of the minimum required 289.  After that, Michel Barnier submitted his resignation to Emmanuel Macron. 

The last time MPs in France passed a vote of no confidence in the current government was in 1962 against Georges Pompidou. According to the law, after a vote of no confidence, the prime minister and the entire cabinet must resign.