Paris
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French Prime Minister Sebastian LeCorgne resigned on Monday just hours after the new cabinet announcement, and the shocking move has put the country in a political crisis.
The prime minister, a key ally of the hard-hit French President Emmanuel Macron, has yet to take office for less than four weeks. In other words, he will step down with the dishonest honor of being the French Prime Minister, who has been in office for the shortest time since the establishment of the Fifth Republic.
This is the most obvious sign of Macron’s path to date. Within less than two years, five prime ministers were born, and no one could build a stable majority, the country was exhausted and it seemed more and more tired of the prime minister.
The public’s dissatisfaction with the government, which is considered to be free from austerity measures and everyday reality, is only deepening. Macron himself seems to have yet to digest the results of last year’s parliamentary elections, which sent a clear message that France had broken out of macroism.
Mr Lecorne said on Monday that he was holding final talks with political parties to stabilize the country, with the deadline being Wednesday night. An official close to the French president told CNN affiliate BFMTV that Macron clearly stated that if the meeting fails, he would “take responsibility.”
Lecorgne’s resignation highlights the paralysis that has been stricken in France since the party that won a complete majority in the undecided 2024 election.
Macron is now cornered and realizes that there are few good options left. Should they hold a general election for disbandment, or resign and hold a new presidential election? Many expect him to choose parliamentary elections, the less of some political risks. However, some point to a third path, this time appointing another prime minister from either the left or far-right, in an effort to rebuild the alliance. However, with so many unsuccessful experiments in the Union, it is still unclear whether anyone can experiment.
In governments that relied on vulnerable coalitions, all gears were important. Just 12 hours after announcing the cabinet that will remain with almost the same minister, Lecorne faced a cross-political backlash, being criticized by both the left and right, for making a major breakthrough in the last election.
It took Lecornes several weeks to announce his chosen ministers, many thought this was to present a more diverse and politically representative face. In his speech on Monday, he accused the government of lack of compromise between political parties that caused its collapse.
He said the “break” he presented — his promise not to use Article 49, Paragraph 3 of the French Constitution in the future to force the bill to vote without a vote — was insufficient for other political parties.
Regarding negotiations with other parties to portray a viable path to government, Recorne said “it didn’t take much to get there,” adding that lack of humility and “some kind of ego” got in the way. “Some people have lots of red lines in their mouths,” but “there were few green lines,” he added.
“You can’t become prime minister when you simply don’t have the conditions,” Lecornes said. “Participants continue to act as if each party holds a majority in the Diet.”
Bruno Rutierau, the leader of the Republican Party (a traditional political party on the French political right), who maintained his position as home minister in the Le Corgne administration, was furious at the election of a former colleague into ministerial position.
He posted on X on Sunday night, referring to Mr. Lecorne’s promise to turn from the previous administration, which has relied heavily on Macron supporters since the 2024 election, saying “the structure of the administration does not reflect the promised interruption.”
Sunday’s ministers consisted of 10 Macron ministers, even more than Macron’s first administration, when he came to power in 2017 with the new centrist party. Of the 15 ministers in the cabinet on Sunday, there were no representatives from the left-wing bloc of the French parliament or far-right parties.
Luteilau’s sentiment was in sync with the far-right in France.
“We’ve made it clear to the Prime Minister, that’s either a break or no confidence,” Jordan Bardera, president of the far-right national rally, posted on X on Sunday night.
Bardera accused Macron of the cause of the government of collapse, criticising Macron for choosing a cabinet, adding that Lecornes had no “room for trickery.” He called for the dissolution of the French Parliament.
“We’re a dead end. There’s no solution,” Marine Le Pen, the French far-right representative, said Monday. When asked whether she could support another macronist prime minister, she replied, “The joke is over now.”
The leftists were also full of anger. “This fleeting government shows only one thing: macroism will bring the country back into chaos,” French Socialist Press Secretary Artur Dellaporte declared on X on Monday morning.
The outrage was particularly directed at the appointment of former Finance Minister Bruno Lemaire to his previous position of Lecorgne, who heads the French Ministry of Defense. Prime Minister Lemaire had overseen a sharp surge in national deficits during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Political unrest in France is bad news for the country’s economy. The Paris Stock Exchange fell 1.7% when trading began Monday morning as concerns grew over the upcoming budget.
The French economy is already suffering from national debt levels about twice the European target, and was downgraded in September by credit rating agency Fitch.
The government was scheduled to submit a budget proposal next week, but at this point it appears that it is impossible to meet the deadline.
Without the emergency law, if the budget deadlines are not met, France could head towards a US-style budget closure, but that’s still a few months away.
Allianz chief investment officer Ludwig Sublan told CNN he did not believe the government collapse on Monday would have a major impact on the macroeconomics.
Sablan said that in the absence of the prime minister, there is a high chance that the continuing budget will be compiled in 2026, provided there is no major changes in the country’s economic direction and no solution to the fiscal problem.
“I say it’s not a big change,” he said. “The economic framework is even more stagnant and the room for maneuvering is even more narrow, so for now it’s almost certain that it will become even more complicated next year.”
The yields on French government bonds, or the interest rates investors are sought, outweigh the yields on Spain, Portugal and Greek government bonds, which once became the center of the eurozone debt crisis. Bond yields on Monday were at their highest level in 10 years.
This is a story under development and has been updated.
