France's Premier Sébastien Lecornu Resigns After Under a 30-Day Period in Power
France's Prime Minister Lecornu has handed in his resignation, under 24 hours after his government team was unveiled.
The Elysée palace confirmed the news after Lecornu met the French President for an meeting on Monday morning.
This surprising decision comes only 26 days after Lecornu was appointed prime minister following the downfall of the previous government of François Bayrou.
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 threatened to vote it down.
Pressure for New Vote and Government Instability
Multiple political groups are now clamouring for new parliamentary polls, with others demanding the President to resign too - despite the fact that he has consistently affirmed he will not stand down before his term ends in 2027.
"The President needs to decide: dissolution of parliament or leaving office," said Chenu, one of prominent members of the RN party.
Lecornu - the previous military head and a supporter of Macron - was France's fifth prime minister in a two-year span.
Background of Political Turmoil
French politics has been markedly turbulent since mid-2024, when sudden national voting resulted in a hung parliament.
This has created challenges for any prime minister to garner the necessary support to approve legislation.
The previous administration was voted down in autumn after the assembly voted against his fiscal tightening package, which aimed to slash government spending by 44 billion euros.
Financial Pressures and Stock Reaction
The French shortfall stood at 5.8% of GDP in the current year and its national debt is 114 percent of GDP.
That is the third highest public debt in the European monetary union after Italy and Greece, and equal to almost 50,000 euros per person.
Share prices dropped in the Paris exchange after the announcement about the PM broke on the start of the week.
