Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu announces the suspension of Macron's pension reform during tense parliamentary session in Paris [Image by NZ Herald]
(The Post News) – France woke up on Saturday morning to yet another surprise in its political drama after President Emmanuel Macron reappointed Sébastien Lecornu as prime minister, four days after Lecornu unexpectedly quit, leaving the country in shock.
Macron’s 39-year-old centrist colleague accepted the task “out of a sense of duty,” vowing to adopt a national budget by year’s end and to “end the uncertainty exhausting the French people.” Lecornu’s surprise return is an unprecedented move by Macron, who last week formally accepted his resignation following the collapse of a government that survived for just 14 hours.
We need to end this political crisis that is damaging France’s image and its interests,” Lecornu declared in a statement on the X platform.
A Return to Political Crisis
Macron’s decision to reappoint Lecornu followed a dramatic day of consultations among party leaders in the Élysée Palace, excluding far-left and far-right ones. The president’s entourage said Lecornu had been given “carte blanche” to rebuild a government before Monday’s cabinet meeting.
But with Macron’s Renaissance party not enjoying a majority in parliament and his popularity at a historic low, 14%, in a poll by Elabe, the reappointment is widely seen as a gamble for time rather than reassurance.
Conservative Les Républicains MP Julien Aubert was scathing in his condemnation of the reappointment as “a provocation,” while centrist MP Shannon Seban said it was required for “stability.”
Far right and left were quick to denounce the reappointment. Jordan Bardella, who leads Marine Le Pen’s National Rally, described it as “a bad joke” and “a humiliation for the French people.” He vowed to back a vote of no confidence immediately.
Green leader Marine Tondelier labelled Lecornu’s comeback “incredible,” saying Macron “should have allowed the left and ecologists to govern.”
Socialist spokesman Stéphane Troussel accused it of being “a farce” and warned that “this President’s reign will soon end.”.
Even Macron’s own allies are at odds. Former budget minister Amélie de Montchalin appealed for “compromise,” while right-wing MP Eric Ciotti, now one of the far right-leaning, urged parliament to “vote the government down.”
France’s public debt stood at nearly 114% of GDP, and its deficit this year was 5.4%, putting Lecornu under massive pressure to produce a credible 2026 budget within weeks.
Bank of France governor François Villeroy de Galhau warned that “uncertainty is the number one enemy of growth,” leaving the political turmoil at a 0.2 percentage point discount from forecasted economic growth.
“Compromises are due, that’s not an ugly word, even coalitions,” Villeroy told RTL radio.
A Fragile Mandate
Lecornu, France’s third prime minister in a year, is confronted by a fractured National Assembly with no obvious route to majority backing. His predecessor, François Bayrou, was pushed out weeks ago in a row over controversial budget reductions.
Macron, with 18 months left as president, is fighting what analysts term the worst domestic crisis of his presidency since he was elected in 2017. Political commentator Alain Minc said Macron had become “politically radioactive.
Lecornu must declare his new cabinet by Sunday evening and present a draft budget to parliament on Monday. The government will then automatically face a vote of confidence, which again potentially risks sending France into crisis if it fails.
Meanwhile, Macron’s reappointment of Lecornu appears more like a Band-Aid than a solution, intended to postpone yet another collapse, as France’s political sclerosis just continues to get worse.
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