French Prime Minister Manuel Valls is pictured before the World Equestrian Games 2014's opening ceremony on August 23, 2014 in Caen, northwestern France.
French government dissolves amid turmoil
03:52 - Source: CNN

Story highlights

Prime Minister Manuel Valls has presented his government's resignation

President Francois Hollande asks Valls to form a new government

The upheaval comes after calls for major policy changes from the Economy Minister

"The crisis in the heart of the government is clear," the newspaper Le Figaro reports

CNN  — 

The French government was dissolved Monday amid turmoil among top ministers.

President Francois Hollande asked Prime Minister Manuel Valls to form a new government, which will be announced Tuesday, Hollande’s office said in a statement posted on Twitter.

French media reported that the upheaval was caused by public calls from Economy Minister Arnaud Montebourg for a major reorientation of economic policy in a country where growth has stalled and unemployment remains high.

Montebourg’s comments were seen as a challenge to the authority of Hollande and Valls.

“The crisis in the heart of the government is clear, and it promises to be bloody,” reported Le Figaro, a right-leaning national newspaper.

Socialist leader Hollande said he wants the new government to be “a team that is coherent with the course that he himself has set for our country,” the statement from his office said.

Hollande has the worst approval ratings of any French President on record. Valls’ popularity, meanwhile, has shown a decline in recent opinion polls.

Valls has been in the post of Prime Minister since March 31, replacing Jean-Marc Ayrault. Hollande has held the presidency since 2012, when he defeated his predecessor, the center-right leader Nicolas Sarkozy.

CNN’s Carol Jordan contributed to this report.