French Prime Minister Lecornu Resigns After Under a Month in Office
France's Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has handed in his resignation, less than a day after his ministers was announced.
The Elysée palace confirmed the news after Lecornu met the French President for an meeting on Monday morning.
This surprising decision comes only less than a month after he was named premier following the collapse of the prior administration of his predecessor.
Parties across the board in the French parliament had sharply condemned the makeup of his ministerial team, which was mostly similar to Bayrou's, and vowed to reject it.
Pressure for Early Elections and Political Unrest
A number of factions are now calling for a snap election, with others demanding Macron to resign too - despite the fact that he has always said he will not resign before his mandate concludes in the year 2027.
"The President needs to decide: parliament's dissolution or leaving office," said Chenu, one of key representatives of the far right National Rally (RN).
The outgoing PM - the ex-defense chief and a Macron loyalist - was France's fifth prime minister in a two-year span.
Background of Government Turmoil
French politics has been highly unstable since July 2024, when sudden national voting resulted in a deadlocked assembly.
This has created challenges for any prime minister to secure enough backing to pass any bills.
The former cabinet was voted down in last month after the assembly refused to back his spending cuts plan, which aimed to slash government spending by €44bn.
Financial Pressures and Stock Reaction
The nation's budget gap stood at 5.8 percent of economic output in 2024 and its public debt is more than the total economic output.
That is the third highest public debt in the European monetary union after two southern European nations, and amounting to almost 50,000 euros per person.
Stocks fell sharply in the Paris exchange after the news of Lecornu's resignation was released on the start of the week.
