France Prime Minister Lecornu resigns less than a month after taking office
A record since 1958: 14 hours after announcing the composition of his government, immediately criticized and threatened with implosion, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu presented his resignation to Emmanuel Macron on Monday morning, less than a month after taking office.
Beset by instability since the dissolution of the National Assembly decided by the Head of State in June 2024, which did not result in a majority, France is sinking further into a political crisis that is worrying economic and financial circles.
Twenty-seven days after his appointment, Sébastien Lecornu became the shortest-serving prime minister in the history of the Fifth republic, founded in 1958.
A loyal supporter of Emmanuel Macron, known as a skilled negotiator, appointed to try to form a third government in a year, he anticipated the predicted implosion of his fragile government coalition.
“The conditions were not met,” he said in a speech, during which he deplored “partisan appetites.”
“The political parties continue to adopt a posture as if they all have an absolute majority in the National Assembly,” he said, affirming that he had nevertheless shown himself “ready to compromise.”
Unsolvable equation
The ball is now in Emmanuel Macron’s court. Will he dissolve the National Assembly, as the far right demands, resign, as the radical left would like, or appoint a new prime minister, who would be the fourth since June 2024 and the sixth since his re-election in May 2022?
“Emmanuel Macron alone in the face of the crisis,” headlined the French daily Le Monde on Monday .
“We must remain calm and think about the French people,” reacted Michel Barnier on Monday, himself overthrown by the National Assembly after three months at the head of the government (September-December 2024).
The political equation, which is compounded by a disastrous financial situation with a debt of 3,400 billion euros (115.6% of GDP) (5,569 billion Canadian dollars), appears insoluble.
In addition to Mr. Barnier, François Bayrou (December 2024-September 2025) also encountered this, having been overthrown after presenting a draft budget of 44 billion euros (72 billion Canadian dollars) in savings.
This new political earthquake caused the CAC 40 stock market index to plunge (-1.70% at 5 a.m. Eastern Time) and the French ten-year interest rate to jump, mechanically increasing the gap with the German benchmark rate. The euro fell in the wake of the resignation announcement, losing 0.63% against the dollar, to 1.1688 dollars to the euro.
Sébastien Lecornu’s coalition began to crack just over an hour after the official announcement of his government, the result of more than three weeks of negotiations.
The leader of the right-wing party Les Républicains (LR), Bruno Retailleau, who had just been reappointed to the Ministry of the Interior, denounced in a message on X a composition which “does not reflect the promised break” and called a meeting of his party’s authorities.
The cause, according to several sources: the surprise return to the Armed Forces of Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy (2017-2024), a symbol for the right of the budgetary slippage of the last years of Macronist governments; or the large share reserved for the Macronist Renaissance party in the distribution of the government (10 ministers, against 4 for LR).
Dissolution “absolutely necessary”
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen said on Monday that a new dissolution of the National Assembly was “absolutely necessary,” and also said that Emmanuel Macron’s resignation was the “only wise decision.”
For his part, radical left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon called for the National Assembly to “immediately” examine a motion for the impeachment of Emmanuel Macron, signed by members of his party, La France Insoumise, as well as members of the Green and Communist groups.
The head of state, omnipresent on the international scene, but who sees his political line descend into chaos on the domestic scene, is regularly designated as the person responsible for the instability that has been eating away at France since June 2024.
Since his decision to dissolve the Assembly following the European elections, the chamber has been divided into three blocs (left-wing/Macronist alliances and centrist/far-right alliances). None of them has an absolute majority.
