Zürcher Nachrichten - Macron under pressure as French PM resigns after less than month

Sebastien Lecornu stepped down just 14 hours after naming his government and had been due to hold his first cabinet meeting in the afternoon. But his new government had raised hackles across the spectrum before ministers even entered their new offices and he risked an immediate no confidence vote in parliament this week.

Lecornu's 27-day stint in office was the shortest ever for a prime minister in modern France.

"The conditions were not fulfilled for me to carry out my function as prime minister," Lecornu said, denouncing the "partisan appetites" of factions who he said had forced his resignation.

With the instability in France causing tremors across Europe, a German government spokesman said a "stable France" was an "important contribution to stability in Europe".

Lecornu's resignation compounds a political crisis that has rocked France for over a year, after centrist Macron called legislative elections in the summer of 2024 which ended in a hung parliament.

The Paris stock market slipped after the announcement, with the CAC 40 index of blue-chip stocks was down around 1.7 percent at around 0900 GMT.

Macron has resisted calls to again order snap legislative polls and has also ruled out resigning himself before his mandate ends in 2027.

He could also look for a new prime minister who would be the eighth of the president's mandate but would face a struggle to survive without radical change.

The 2027 presidential elections are expected to be a historic crossroads in French politics, with the French far right under Marine Le Pen sensing its best ever chance of taking power.

Le Pen said it would be "wise" for Macron to resign but also urged snap legislative polls as "absolutely necessary".

The party leader of Le Pen's far-right National Rally (RN) Jordan Bardella said he expected the legislative elections to take place and added: "The RN will obviously be ready to govern".

- No 'last lap' -

Macron named Lecornu, a 39-year-old former defence minister and close confidant known for his discretion and loyalty, to the post on September 9.

The president had hoped his ally would take the heat out of the domestic crisis and allow him to focus on his efforts on the international stage and notably working with the United States to end Russia's war on Ukraine.

But the largely unchanged cabinet Lecornu unveiled late on Sunday sparked fierce criticism, in particular from the right-wing Republicans who were part of the coalition government.

The Republicans were not going to offer Macron and his allies "a final lap" after the largely unchanged cabinet, the right-wing party's vice-president Francois-Xavier Bellamy said.

The lineup included former long-serving finance minister Bruno Le Maire as defence minister, a move critics said contradicted Lecornu's pledges for change.

Macron is now "alone in the face of the crisis", said Le Monde daily.

- 'Hazardous' options -

Lecornu had faced the daunting task of finding approval in a deeply divided parliament for an austerity budget for next year.

Lecornu's two immediate predecessors, Francois Bayrou and Michel Barnier, were ousted by the legislative chamber in a standoff over the spending plan and he risked the same fate.

France's public debt has reached a record high, official data showed last week.

France's debt-to-GDP ratio is now the European Union's third-highest after Greece and Italy, and is close to twice the 60 percent permitted under EU rules.

Mujtaba Rahman, managing director for Europe at Eurasia Group risk analysis firm, said all of Macron's options were "hazardous" but resigning or calling snap polls risked bringing the far right to power.

"We believe that Macron will appoint a new prime minister and challenge the disparate far right and left wing opposition to cooperate to avoid a profound fiscal and political crisis," he said.

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P.E.Steiner--NZN