Francois Bayrou named new French prime minister

French President Emmanuel Macron has appointed centrist Francois Bayrou as the country's new prime minister and tasked him with forming a government, the Elysee announced on Friday. 

Bayrou, 73, head of the Democratic Movement (MoDem) party, which is allied to Macron's Renaissance party, was appointed nine days after Michel Barnier's government was ousted by parliament in a historic no-confidence vote.

Bayrou founded the centrist MoDem in 2007. He ran as a presidential candidate three times, in 2002, 2007 and 2012.

Following the Elysee's announcement, the president of the far-right wing party National Rally, Jordan Bardella, told French news channel BFMTV that his party would not immediately censor Bayrou, but added that Bayrou should "understand that he has no democratic legitimacy nor the majority in the National Assembly, which requires a dialogue with all the forces represented in the parliament."

Meanwhile, the hard-left party La France Insoumise (LFI) has announced it will launch a no-confidence vote to bring down Bayrou. LFI has repeatedly said that the position of prime minister should be given to someone from the alliance of left-wing parties, which won the most seats in the snap legislative elections held this year.

Speaking to the press on Friday afternoon, Bayrou stressed the need for a reconciliation. "Everyone understands the difficulty of the task...There is a path to be found that unites people instead of dividing them," he said.

During the transfer of power ceremony held Friday evening at Matignon, the French prime minister's office, Bayrou said that he recognized the seriousness of the political situation in France.

(With input from agencies)