French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday appointed centrist politician François Bayrou as prime minister, the Élysée Palace said, just over a week after the fall of the previous government.
Last Wednesday, the opposition brought down conservative former premier Michel Barnier in a dispute over an austerity budget, after he had only been in office for three months.
France has been politically deadlocked since elections held in the June and July failed to produce a clear result. At the same time, the country is facing a critical economic situation amid soaring national debt and a large budgetary deficit.
Opposition parties have demanded Macron resign amid the political and economic crisis, with a 2025 budget still not approved just weeks before the new year. Macron has refused to step down.
