Defiant Macron blames others for French turmoil and seeks new PM

French President Emmanuel Macron was in a combative mood in a TV address on Thursday night, 24 hours after Prime Minister Michel Barnier's government was ousted in a historic no-confidence vote.

Macron is due to hold talks on Friday with political factions as he seeks to name a new prime minister and find a way out of France's political crisis.

"I know some people are tempted to hold me responsible for this situation, but I will never take responsibility for the actions of others, and in particular of the lawmakers who consciously chose to bring down the budget and the government of France a few days before Christmas," Macron said.

Macron vowed to swiftly name a new prime minister, rejected growing pressure from the opposition to resign and blamed an "anti-republican front" of the hard left and far right for choosing to create "disorder."

Contemporary France's shortest-serving premier, Barnier resigned after Wednesday's parliamentary defeat in a standoff over the budget forced his government to step down, the first such toppling of a French administration in over 60 years.

"I will appoint a prime minister in the coming days," Macron added, saying this person would be charged with forming a 'government of general interest' with a priority of passing a budget.

The French presidency said earlier that Barnier and his ministers would remain "in charge of daily business until the appointment of a new government."

Macron is reported to be meeting leaders of the parliamentary factions of his own centrist forces, the Socialist Party and the right-wing Republicans, on Friday to continue the search for a compromise. The hard-left France Unbowed and far-right National Rally (RN) have not been invited to this stage.

Limiting any impression of political chaos is all the most important for Macron given that on Saturday he will host world leaders - including U.S. President-elect Donald Trump - for the reopening of the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris after the huge fire in 2019.

Pointing to how the edifice was rebuilt within the five-year timeline he had set, Macron said: "It's the proof we're able to do great things, that we can do the impossible."

In an unusual move, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, France's top diplomat for just two-and-a-half months, urged unity, saying "instability is vulnerability" at a time of international uncertainty.

A majority of legislators on Wednesday supported the no-confidence vote proposed by the hard left and backed by the far right led by Marine Le Pen.

Barnier's ejection in record time came after snap parliamentary elections in June resulted in a hung parliament. No political force was able to form an overall majority and the far right held the key to the government's survival.

The trigger for Barnier's ouster was his 2025 budget plan, including austerity measures unacceptable to a majority in parliament, but which he argued were necessary to stabilize France's finances.

On Monday he forced through a social security financing bill without a vote, but the ousting of the government means France is still without a budget.

While Macron has more than two years of his presidential term left, some opponents want him to resign to break the deadlock.

According to a poll for Le Figaro daily, 59 percent of French want the president to step down. Other surveys have the figure far higher.

Hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon said Macron was the "cause of the problem," while the left-wing daily Liberation accused the president of a "flagrant denial" of his responsibility in the crisis.