The French president, Emanuel Macron, on Tuesday accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and his government, the Elysée said in a statement, officially starting a transition period during which, the outgoing administration plays the role of caretaker government until a new executive is appointed.

The statement added that Macron urged "all Republican forces" to reach an agreement in order to end this transition period "as soon as possible."

This transitory period has never lasted more than nine days — but these are unprecedented times in France.

The choice of who fills the prime ministerial and cabinet positions is up to the president, who mostly does as they please when their party holds an absolute majority in parliament, or otherwise picks the leader of whichever party controls the lower house.