French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu Steps Down After Less Than a 30-Day Period in Power
The nation's PM Sébastien Lecornu has stepped down, shortly after his cabinet was announced.
The presidential office confirmed the news after the Prime Minister met President Emmanuel Macron for an 60-minute discussion on Monday morning.
This unexpected development comes only 26 days after Lecornu was named premier following the dissolution of the prior administration of his predecessor.
Various groups in the legislature had sharply condemned the makeup of Lecornu's cabinet, which was very close to the previous one, and threatened to vote it down.
Calls for New Vote and Political Instability
A number of factions are now calling for a snap election, with certain voices demanding Macron to also leave office - although he has always said he will not resign before his mandate concludes in five years from now.
"The President needs to pick: parliament's dissolution or stepping down," said Sébastien Chenu, one of leading figures of the far right National Rally (RN).
The outgoing PM - the former armed forces minister and a Macron loyalist - was the fifth premier in under two years.
Context of Political Crisis
The nation's governance has been highly unstable since mid-2024, when early legislative polls resulted in a deadlocked assembly.
This has created challenges for every premier to secure enough backing to approve legislation.
The former cabinet was defeated in September after lawmakers declined to support his austerity budget, which aimed to cut state costs by 44 billion euros.
Economic Challenges and Market Response
The French shortfall hit 5.8 percent of economic output in the current year and its public debt is 114 percent of GDP.
That is the third highest public debt in the euro area after Italy and Greece, and amounting to almost 50k euros for each resident.
Stocks fell sharply in the Paris exchange after the announcement about the PM broke on the start of the week.
