French President Emmanuel Macron has appointed longtime centrist ally Francois Bayrou as the country's new prime minister after MPs voted last week to dismiss the previous government led by Michel Barnier, Euronews reported.

Bayrou, 73, is the founder of the centrist Democratic Movement Party (MoDem) and mayor of the city of Pau in the southwest of the country.

Like his predecessor, François Bayrou does not have a majority in the National Assembly (lower house of parliament). To avoid the same fate as Barnier, he will have to negotiate with other parties in the heavily divided lower house to avoid being ousted by MPs.

“It's a long road, everyone knows it... I'm not the first to choose the long road,” Bayrou told reporters on Friday.

Macron certainly hopes Bayrou will hold on until at least July, when new parliamentary elections can be held.