Barnier pledges compromise amid no-confidence threats for new government

French Prime Minister Michel Barnier promised cohesion and a willingness to compromise Sunday, a day after his new government was announced to immediate threats of a no-confidence motion in parliament.

Barnier, who heads up a government condemned by its critics as too far to the right, promised in a television interview to move fast to tackle the country's most pressing problems.

Under intense pressure to fix France's fragile financial position, he said a "national effort" would be required.

High earners would have to "do their bit" to help, he said, but there would be no income-tax increases for "people with low incomes, or wage earners, or the middle-income class".

The long wait for the new government -- 11 weeks after a snap election called by President Emmanuel Macron -- ended Saturday when the new team was announced. It marks a clear shift to the right.

Its left-wing opponents say they will challenge Barnier's government with a no-confidence motion as early as next month. Far-right politicians also criticised the composition of the new government.

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's National Rally emerged as the single largest party in the National Assembly.

Macron argued that the left was unable to muster enough support to form a government that would not immediately be brought down in parliament.

He also rejected a National Rally candidate because of the party's extremist legacy.