PARIS: France's President Emmanuel Macron faced growing pressure on Tuesday (Oct 7) to resign or hold a snap parliamentary election to end political chaos that has forced the resignation of five prime ministers in less than two years.
The 47-year-old centrist president has repeatedly said he will see out his second term, which ends in 2027.
But resignation calls, long confined to the fringes, have entered the mainstream during one of the worst political crises since the 1958 creation of the Fifth Republic, France's current system of government.
On Tuesday, as Macron's outgoing Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu held last-ditch talks to form a new government, his first premier in 2017, Edouard Philippe, said it was time for a new president to break the deadlock.
Speaking to RTL radio, Philippe said Macron should be "leaving in an orderly manner" to allow a way out of the crisis.