France's Premier Lecornu Tenders Resignation After Less Than a Month in the Role
The nation's PM Lecornu has handed in his resignation, less than a day after his government team was unveiled.
The French presidency made the announcement after Lecornu met President Emmanuel Macron for an hour on the start of the week.
This surprising decision comes only under four weeks after Lecornu was given the PM role following the collapse of the previous government of his predecessor.
Parties across the board in the French parliament had sharply condemned the structure of the new government, which was largely unchanged to the previous one, and promised to block its approval.
Pressure for Early Elections and Political Unrest
Several parties are now demanding early elections, with some calling for Macron to step down as well - even though he has always said he will not resign before his mandate concludes in 2027.
"The President needs to decide: parliament's dissolution or leaving office," said Sébastien Chenu, one of prominent members of the far right National Rally (RN).
Lecornu - the previous military head and a ally of the President - was the fifth French PM in less than 24 months.
Context of Political Crisis
French politics has been very volatile since mid-2024, when sudden national voting resulted in a no clear majority.
This has made it difficult for any prime minister to obtain required votes to pass any bills.
The former cabinet was defeated in last month after parliament declined to support his austerity budget, which aimed to reduce public expenditure by $51 billion.
Financial Challenges and Stock Reaction
The French shortfall stood at 5.8 percent of economic output in the current year and its government debt is 114 percent of GDP.
That is the third highest public debt in the eurozone after Greece and Italy, and equivalent to almost 50k euros for each resident.
Share prices dropped in the French stock market after the announcement about the PM broke on Monday.
