Paris – France’s outgoing Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu was to make a last-ditch effort on Tuesday to rally cross-party support for a cabinet lineup to pull his country out of political deadlock.
President Emmanuel Macron tasked Lecornu, 39, with forming a government in early September after parliament toppled his predecessor.
Lecornu unveiled a new cabinet on Sunday evening but it immediately drew criticism for containing many of the same faces from the previous government, and Lecornu resigned on Monday.
But in a twist, Lecornu had by Monday evening accepted Macron’s request that he spend two days trying to salvage his administration.
Macron tasked Lecornu with “conducting final negotiations by Wednesday evening to define a platform of action and stability for the country,” a presidential official said, asking not to be named.
Lecornu said on social media he had accepted “to hold final discussions with the political forces” and would report back to Macron on Wednesday evening.
Macron is ready to “assume his responsibilities” in case of failure, the presidential official said, in a possible reference to calling new legislative elections.
Critics were irked by the appointment of former finance minister Bruno Le Maire as defence minister, seeing him as the incarnation of Macron’s economic policies.
In a bid to break the deadlock, Le Maire said on Monday he was stepping down.
‘Try something else’
Lecornu’s resignation compounds a political crisis that has rocked France for over a year, after Macron called snap polls in mid-2024 which ended in a hung parliament.
The crisis has sparked criticism from within Macron’s own ranks.
Gabriel Attal, who was prime minister until last year and now leads the president’s centrist party, on Monday evening said he no longer understood Macron’s decisions.
After a succession of new premiers, it was “time to try something else”, he said.
The chaos comes ahead of 2027 presidential elections expected to be a historic crossroads in French politics, with the French far right under Marine Le Pen sensing its best chance yet of taking power.
Le Pen said it would be “wise” for Macron to resign but also urged snap legislative polls as “absolutely necessary”.
The party leader of Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN), Jordan Bardella, said it would be “ready to govern”.
Austerity budget
Lecornu’s two immediate predecessors, Francois Bayrou and Michel Barnier, were ousted by parliament in a standoff over an austerity budget.
Any next premier will still face the challenge of finding enough support for the spending bill in a the legislative chamber where the Macron-friendly bloc is in a minority.
The crisis comes as France’s public debt has reached a record high.
France’s debt-to-GDP ratio is now the European Union’s third-highest after Greece and Italy, and is close to twice the 60 percent permitted under EU rules.
Macron has so far resisted calls for fresh parliamentary polls, and ruled out resigning himself before his mandate ends in 2027.
He could also look for a new prime minister, who would be the eighth of the president’s mandate, but would face a struggle to survive without radical change.
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Source: AFP
