French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday engaged in a search for a new prime minister to prevent France's political turmoil from deepening after Michel Barnier's government was toppled in a historic vote of no confidence in parliament, France 24 wrote.

Barnier, who became the shortest-serving prime minister in modern France, met Macron at the Elysee Palace to resign after a defeat in parliament on Wednesday forced his government to step down.

The vote was the first successful no-confidence motion since the defeat of Georges Pompidou's government in 1962, when Charles de Gaulle was president.

Macron was due to meet the speakers of the upper and lower houses of parliament before addressing the nation at 19:00 GMT.

Multiple AFP sources said the president is believed to be in a rush to appoint a new prime minister to avoid a political vacuum.

It is all the more important for Macron, who will host world leaders including US President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday at the opening of Notre Dame de Paris cathedral in Paris after the devastating 2019 fire, to limit any impression of political chaos, the media outlet emphasized.