“Some political groups have chosen chaos,” he said, referring to the no-confidence vote which led to Michel Barnier standing down just three months after he was appointed by Macron. “They don’t want to build, they want to dismantle.”

Barnier’s government became the shortest-tenured in modern French history after the first successful no-confidence vote in France in more than 60 years. Sparking his downfall was his proposed financing bill, which included €60 billion ($98.4 billion) worth of tax hikes and spending cuts aimed at bringing the budget deficit down to 5 per cent next year.

Macron must now appoint a new prime minister and task them with either passing a law that extends this year’s budget into the early months of 2025, or pushing a complete budget through parliament by the end of the year. Macron said the next prime minister would be charged with forming a “government of general interest” with a priority of passing a budget.

Addressing voters directly, he said some of his political opponents were not thinking “about you, the voters”, suggesting that their interest was in the next presidential election.

“My responsibility requires me to ensure the continuity of the state, the proper functioning of our institutions, the independence of our country, and the protection of all of you.”

“Let’s be honest, they think about one thing: the presidential election,” Macron said of the party of his long-term, hard-right National Rally rival Marine Le Pen. He said the party’s “cynical” approach had brought “a sense of chaos” to the country.

After Macron’s address, Le Pen wrote a “Gentle reminder to President Macron” in a post on X that no-confidence votes are “not anti-Republican, but provided for in our constitution”.

Le Pen, whose party holds the most seats in parliament, stopped short of calling for Macron’s resignation but warned “the pressure on the president of the republic will get stronger and stronger”.

The one thing to never forget is that Macron is hated in France with a vicious passion. The people of France see him as arrogant, elitist and unrelatable. (His approval rating fell to 23 per cent in the Ipsos poll last month, Bloomberg reported).

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Alain Minc, a political essayist and long-term informal adviser to French presidents, said on Thursday: “Macron is a victim of his own narcissism ... He was in denial of reality.”

Barnier will stay on as caretaker role for now, but Macron is under pressure to quickly name a new prime minister who might offer the country some stability. Candidates include Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau and centrist former presidential candidate François Bayrou.

Whoever is chosen, few believe a new government will manage to navigate the minefield of a bitterly divided parliament. France could be back in this position again soon enough.