French Prime Minister Lecornu Tenders Resignation Following Less Than a 30-Day Period in the Role
The nation's PM Lecornu has resigned, less than a day after his government team was unveiled.
The Elysée palace issued a statement after Lecornu met the French President for an meeting on the start of the week.
This surprising decision comes only under four weeks after he was appointed prime minister following the dissolution of the prior administration of François Bayrou.
Parties across the board in the French parliament had sharply condemned the composition of the new government, which was largely unchanged to the previous one, and threatened to vote it down.
Calls for Snap Polls and Political Instability
A number of factions are now clamouring for new parliamentary polls, with others calling for the President to resign too - even though he has always said he will not resign before his term ends in five years from now.
"The President needs to choose: parliament's dissolution or leaving office," said Sébastien Chenu, one of leading figures of the RN party.
The outgoing PM - the previous military head and a supporter of Macron - was the fifth French PM in a two-year span.
Context of Political Turmoil
The nation's governance has been highly unstable since mid-2024, when sudden national voting resulted in a no clear majority.
This has made it difficult for each PM to garner the necessary support to approve legislation.
The previous administration was rejected in last month after parliament voted against his fiscal tightening package, which aimed to cut state costs by 44 billion euros.
Economic Pressures and Market Response
The nation's budget gap hit nearly 6% of the economy in the current year and its public debt is more than the total economic output.
That is the third highest public debt in the euro area after Italy and Greece, and equivalent to almost 50,000 euros per person.
Share prices dropped in the French stock market after the announcement about the PM broke on Monday morning.
