Macron battling hard to form new French govt with 'new approach'

French President Emmanuel Macron has called for a "meeting of different political forces" to hammer out a program for a new government, the Greens party leader said on Monday amid a political crisis triggered by Prime Minister Michel Barnier's ousting.

Macron had suggested a "new method" to put together an executive, Greens chief Marine Tondelier said after meeting him at his Elysee Palace office.

After July's snap elections produced no clear majority, Macron took almost two months to name conservative Barnier as premier.

He was then toppled last week in a no-confidence vote over a cost-cutting draft budget for 2025 meant to tackle France's yawning deficit.

New polls are ruled out until the summer, leaving Macron this time around to call for a "meeting of different political forces to discuss a platform" that could unite them in government, Tondelier said.

Until now, Macron had only been meeting party leaders individually.

But cobbling together any majority will be tricky in a parliament almost evenly divided between the NFP left-wing alliance, Macron's centrists and conservatives, and the far-right National Rally (RN).

Tondelier said Macron was "very clear about the fact that as far as he is concerned, the RN is not within the circle of parties willing to talk."

The RN had initially helped prop up Barnier's minority government before supporting his downfall. It leaves the left, center and center-right to try and find common ground after clashing fiercely ever since Macron's first presidential win in 2017.

Under pressure

Macron's call for a broad-based meeting suggests a new executive will not be put together quickly. His ally, parliamentary speaker Yael Braun-Pivet, had earlier said a name should come "within the next few hours."

She called for Macron's centrists to join conservative Republicans (LR), independent MPs and the Socialists to form an absolute majority that would survive a no-confidence vote.

Others have called for Macron to himself resign and trigger a new presidential poll. But a defiant Macron last week said that he planned to serve out the remainder of his term, vowing to produce "30 months of useful action" and promising to name a new prime minister in the "coming days."

The weekend reopening of Paris's Notre Dame cathedral, refurbished after a devastating 2019 fire, offered a brief respite from the political crisis as he hosted world leaders including US president-elect Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Macron is now under huge pressure to form a government that can survive a no-confidence vote and pass a budget for next year in a bid to limit political and economic turmoil.

Quick resolution

Allies have urged Macron to move quickly. "We can't go on like this," Macron's centrist ally Francois Bayrou said, warning the French did not want uncertainty to continue.  

RN head Jordan Bardella, whose party has not been invited to talks with Macron, earlier demanded a meeting with the future prime minister. "You can't pretend we're not here," Bardella said.

Barnier, prime minister for only three months, remains in charge on a caretaker basis until a new government is appointed.