Former EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier named new French prime minister [Video]

French President Emmanuel Macron has named Michel Barnier, the European Union’s former Brexit negotiator, as prime minister in a bid to end a political stalemate that has mired the nation since early July.

Macron charged Barnier with forming a government on Thursday, according to an announcement shared by the Elysee Palace.

The 73-year-old conservative must now face a no-confidence vote in the lower house of parliament before assuming governance.

The announcement hopes to end a weeks-long political standoff and resolve a hung parliament that emerged after the surprise victory of the five-party left-wing New Popular Front coalition in the run-off vote of July 7. Macron’s centrist “Together” bloc came in second in the election, with the far-right Rassemblement National coming in third.

None of the factions achieved the 289 seats needed to clinch an absolute majority, plunging France into the stewardship of a caretaker government during the highly-mediatized summer stretch when the nation hosted the heavily attended Olympics Games.

Macron accepted the resignation of former Prime …