Pressure piles on new French government from day one

French Prime Minister Michel Barnier's hard-won new government faces instant challenges as threats of a no-confidence motion in parliament have multiplied.

The head of government is also under intense pressure to fix France's fragile financial position, saying a "national effort" was needed to do so.

The long wait for a functioning government after President Emmanuel Macron called a snap general election ended after 11 weeks yesterday with his appointment of a cabinet marking a clear shift to the right.

Left-wing opponents said they will challenge Mr Barnier's government with a no-confidence motion as early as next month, with far-right politicians also slamming its composition.

In the July election, a left-wing alliance called the New Popular Front won the most parliamentary seats of any political bloc, but not enough for an overall majority.

Veteran far-right leader Marine Le Pen meanwhile saw her National Rally emerge as the single largest party in the National Assembly.

Mr Macron had argued that the left was unable to muster enough support to form a government that would not immediately be brought down in parliament, and rejected a National Rally candidate over the party's extremist legacy.

'Greatest possible cohesion'

The French president turned instead to Mr Barnier to lead a government drawing on parliamentary support mostly from Macron's allies, as well as from the conservative Republicans and centrist groups.

In a TV appearance, Mr Barnier called for "the greatest possible cohesion" within the government, and for a willingness to find "compromise".

Far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon has called the new lineup "a government of the general election losers", saying France should "get rid" of it "as soon as possible".

Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Paris and other French cities in a left-wing protest to denounce what they called a denial of July's election results.

Socialist Party chairman Olivier Faure called Mr Barnier's cabinet the "most right-wing government of the Fifth Republic".

Mr Macron had been counting on a neutral stance from the far right, but National Rally leader Jordan Bardella said the new government had "no future whatsoever".

'Painful measures'

Former French president Francois Hollande, a Socialist, said the new government would inflict "painful measures on our fellow citizens".

He said a no-confidence motion was "a good solution".

To pass, such a motion needs an absolute majority in parliament, which would then force the

government to step down immediately - currently an unlikely scenario as the far right and the leftist bloc, sworn enemies, would have to vote in unison.

The first major test for Mr Barnier, best known internationally for leading the European Union's.

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Brexit negotiations with Britain, will be to submit a 2025 budget plan addressing France's precarious financial situation, which he called "very serious".

In the interview, Mr Barnier called for a "national effort" to cut deficits, but ruled out across-the-board tax rises.

High earners would have to "do their bit", he said, but ruled out income tax rises for low and middle-income earners who, he said, already bore "the highest tax burden among EU partners".