French Prime Minister Lecornu Tenders Resignation Following Less Than a 30-Day Period in the Role
The French Premier Sébastien Lecornu has resigned, under 24 hours after his ministers was announced.
The French presidency made the announcement after Lecornu met President Emmanuel Macron for an meeting on the start of the week.
This surprising decision comes only under four weeks after Lecornu was appointed prime minister following the dissolution of the prior administration of his predecessor.
Parties across the board in the National Assembly had fiercely criticised the composition of his ministerial team, which was mostly similar to Bayrou's, and vowed to reject it.
Calls for Early Elections and Government Unrest
Multiple political groups are now calling for a snap election, with others demanding Macron to also leave office - despite the fact that he has always said he will not resign before his term ends in the year 2027.
"Macron needs to decide: calling new elections or resignation," said Sébastien Chenu, one of prominent members of the far right National Rally (RN).
Lecornu - the former armed forces minister and a supporter of Macron - was France's fifth prime minister in a two-year span.
Context of Political Crisis
France's political landscape has been highly unstable since last summer, when sudden national voting resulted in a no clear majority.
This has made it difficult for every premier to obtain required votes to pass any bills.
The former cabinet was rejected in autumn after parliament voted against his fiscal tightening package, which aimed to slash government spending by $51 billion.
Financial Challenges and Stock Reaction
The nation's budget gap hit 5.8 percent of economic output in 2024 and its national debt is more than the total economic output.
That is the third largest government debt in the eurozone after Italy and Greece, and equivalent to almost 50,000 euros per person.
Markets declined in the Paris exchange after the announcement about the PM broke on Monday morning.
