Macron to name new PM within 48 hours amid deepening political crisis
French President Emmanuel Macron has said that he will name a new prime minister in the next 48 hours, for now rejecting other options in the face of a political storm.
The naming of a replacement for outgoing prime minister Sebastien Lecornu, who abruptly resigned on Monday, will — at least for now — move France away from the likelihood of snap legislative elections, another possibility that is available to the French leader but which could plunge the EU’s second-largest economy into even greater uncertainty.
The announcement from Mr Macron’s office of a prime ministerial appointment before the weekend came after Mr Lecornu — at the president’s request — spent the two days after his resignation taking the temperature in Parliament, to see whether there was enough support in the powerful but fractured lower house to form a new government.
Mr Lecornu concluded that there was, even though Mr Macron’s camp and its allies do not have a majority in the National Assembly and the French leader’s prime ministerial appointments, leading minority governments, have tumbled one after another in quick succession over the past year.
The presidential statement said that in the wake of his talks with political parties, Mr Lecornu determined that a majority of National Assembly lawmakers do not want snap legislative elections and that it is “possible” that they could agree on a 2026 budget for France by the end of the year.
“On this basis, the president of the Republic will name a prime minister within 48 hours,” the statement said, without a hint of who Mr Macron will choose.
Mr Lecornu signalled that it will not be him again.
“I’m not chasing the job,” he said. “My mission is finished.”
In an interview with broadcaster France Televisions before Mr Macron’s announcement, the outgoing prime minister said his 48 hours of talks with all parties except those on the far left and far right that refused negotiations had made progress and that “an absolute majority” of legislators do not for now see a need to dissolve the National Assembly, a move that backfired on Mr Macron when he last did that.
Mr Lecornu said Mr Macron’s centrist camp and its allies in the Parliament, plus some opposition parties, could still come together to form a new government.
“There’s a majority that can govern,” Mr Lecornu said.
“I feel that a path is still possible. It is difficult.”
The result from the elections triggered by Mr Macron’s stunning National Assembly dissolution in June 2024 was a hung Parliament.
No one group has enough legislators in the 577-seat chamber to form a government alone.
The ensuing political deadlock has rattled investors, infuriated many voters and frustrated efforts to agree on a budget to tackle France’s mounting state deficit and damaging debts.
Without a stable majority, Mr Macron’s minority governments have lurched from crisis to crisis, collapsing as they sought legislators’ support for unpopular cuts to public spending.
Mr Lecornu’s resignation on Monday morning came just 14 hours after he had named a new cabinet the night before, with his fragile coalition shattering in the face of political and personal rivalries.
To buy more time to weigh his options, Mr Macron then asked the 39-year-old Mr Lecornu — a close ally who had previously served as defence minister — to reach out again to parties in the National Assembly, to try to build consensus behind France’s next budget, an urgent national priority.
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