Following the collapse of France’s centre-right government, President Emmanuel Macron has rejected calls for his resignation.
In an address to the French people on Thursday evening, Macron said: “The mandate you have democratically entrusted to me is a five-year mandate and I will fulfill it fully until its end.”
Macron said it was his responsibility to ensure the proper functioning of the institutions, the country’s independence and the protection of its population.
The left-wing camp and right-wing nationalists led by Marine Le Pen overthrew the government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier on Wednesday with a vote of no confidence in the National Assembly after just three months in office.
This was immediately followed by calls for Macron’s resignation from the far-left party La France Insoumise, or France Unbowed in English.
French President Emmanuel Macron is seen on a monitor in the control room of the AFP headquarters as he addresses the nation from the Elysee Palace. Macron’s televised speech comes in response to the collapse of Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s minority government. Ludovic Marin/AFP/dpa
