🔗 Share this article

The nation's PM Lecornu has resigned, shortly after his ministers was unveiled.

The French presidency confirmed the news after Lecornu met Macron for an meeting on the start of the week.

This surprising decision comes only under four weeks after he was given the PM role following the collapse of the previous government of his predecessor.

Parties across the board in the National Assembly had strongly opposed the makeup of his ministerial team, which was largely unchanged to Bayrou's, and vowed to reject it.

Pressure for New Vote and Government Instability

Several parties are now demanding early elections, with others demanding the President to also leave office - even though he has always said he will not resign before his mandate concludes in the year 2027.

"The President needs to choose: parliament's dissolution or resignation," said Sébastien Chenu, one of key representatives of the far right National Rally (RN).

The outgoing PM - the ex-defense chief and a Macron loyalist - was the fifth French PM in a two-year span.

Context of Political Turmoil

France's political landscape has been highly unstable since July 2024, when snap parliamentary elections resulted in a hung parliament.

This has created challenges for any prime minister to obtain required votes to enact new laws.

The former cabinet was voted down in last month after parliament declined to support his austerity budget, which aimed to slash government spending by $51 billion.

Financial Pressures and Market Response

The French shortfall hit nearly 6% of the economy in the current year and its government debt is 114 percent of GDP.

That is the third highest public debt in the euro area after Italy and Greece, and equivalent to almost 50k euros for each resident.

Share prices dropped in the Paris exchange after the news of Lecornu's resignation emerged on Monday.