France's Premier Sébastien Lecornu Steps Down After Under a Month in the Role
The French Premier Sébastien Lecornu has stepped down, less than a day after his cabinet was announced.
The French presidency made the announcement after the Prime Minister met President Emmanuel Macron for an 60-minute discussion on the start of the week.
This shock move comes only less than a month after he was given the PM role following the collapse of the prior administration of his predecessor.
Political factions in the legislature had strongly opposed the makeup of the new government, which was largely unchanged to Bayrou's, and threatened to vote it down.
Pressure for Early Elections and Political Unrest
A number of factions are now demanding early elections, with certain voices calling for Macron to resign too - even though he has consistently affirmed he will not stand down before his mandate concludes in 2027.
"The President needs to choose: parliament's dissolution or resignation," said Chenu, one of key representatives of the RN party.
The outgoing PM - the previous military head and a Macron loyalist - was France's fifth prime minister in less than 24 months.
Background of Political Crisis
France's political landscape has been highly unstable since July 2024, when snap parliamentary elections resulted in a hung parliament.
This has posed obstacles for each PM to obtain required votes to approve legislation.
The previous administration was voted down in autumn after the assembly declined to support his fiscal tightening package, which aimed to reduce public expenditure by €44bn.
Financial Pressures and Stock Response
France's deficit hit 5.8% of GDP in the current year and its national debt is 114% of GDP.
That is the third largest government debt in the euro area after Italy and Greece, and equal to almost 50k euros for each resident.
Stocks fell sharply in the French stock market after the announcement about the PM was released on Monday morning.
