Paris, Oct 7, (dpa/GNA) – French President Emmanuel Macron, has tasked outgoing Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu with seeking a way out of the country’s political crisis, following Lecornu’s surprise resignation on Monday.
The Élysée Palace said Macron asked Lecornu, who remains caretaker premier, to conduct last-ditch negotiations by Wednesday evening aimed at establishing a framework for political stability.
Lecornu posted on X in response: “At the request of the president, I have said that I am ready to conduct final talks with the political forces to ensure the stability of the country.”
He added that he would inform Macron by Wednesday evening, whether a resolution is possible, “so that he can draw all the necessary conclusions.”
But Lecornu told Macron that he himself did not want to be reappointed as prime minister, the daily Le Fiagaro and other French media reported late Monday. Sources close to the president reportedly said Macron would accept responsibility if these final negotiations fail.
After a year of political turbulence, Macron is rapidly running out of options. His term runs through 2027.
While he has ruled out resigning, he could dissolve parliament and call fresh elections.
Analysts argue that his decision to hold snap elections last year fuelled the current crisis, by strengthening far-left and far-right forces in the National Assembly — parties that could gain even more if elections are held again soon.
Lecornu resigned a month after being appointed, forcing Macron to search for another new prime minister for the third time in a year.
Hours earlier, on Sunday evening, the prime minister had unveiled the allocation of key ministries in his government. The line-up did not go down well.
Bruno Retailleau, leader of the Republicans party, expressed dissatisfaction with his conservatives’ role in the new Cabinet and called a crisis meeting on Monday.
There was speculation about a possible withdrawal of the conservatives from the coalition with Macron’s centrist camp, which has little room to manoeuvre as it lacks a parliamentary majority.
Retailleau had previously demanded a third of the ministerial posts for his party.
Conservatives were also reportedly outraged by the appointment of long-serving economy and finance minister Bruno Le Maire, who left office in 2024 and was unexpectedly named defence minister by Lecornu.
Following his resignation, Lecornu criticized the parties in France’s fragmented parliament for blocking progress.
“The political parties continue to adopt an attitude, as if they all had an absolute majority in the National Assembly,” Lecornu said.
“And basically, I found myself in a situation where I was ready to compromise, but each political party wants the other political party to adopt its entire programme,” Lecornu said in a statement outside the seat of government.
He also complained of a tussle between the parties for posts.
Lecornu, who comes from the president’s camp, had been scheduled to make a government statement to the lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, and reveal the remaining Cabinet positions on Tuesday.
The resignation extends France’s simmering political crisis, and puts Macron under mounting pressure.
Le Maire withdrew from his planned appointment as defence minister, in an effort to help resolve France’s deepening political crisis.
Le Maire said on Monday that he had offered Macron his immediate resignation, and the president had accepted.
“I hope that this decision will allow discussions to resume, with a view to forming a new government, which France needs,” he wrote on X.
The opposition promptly called for new elections and urged Macron to resign. “We have reached the end of the road,” the leader of France’s right-wing nationalists, Marine Le Pen, said. “The French are fed up with this situation.”
She said fresh elections are the only way forward.
Left-wing politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon agreed. “We are at an impasse. As long as we hesitate to tackle the core problem, everything will only get worse,” he asserted.
Lecornu’s predecessor as prime minister, François Bayrou, lost a parliamentary confidence vote on September 8 over a planned austerity budget, leading him to step down as head of the minority government. Macron then appointed Lecornu on September 9.
And last year, before Bayrou took office, the government of Michel Barnier collapsed in December after just three months.
France currently holds the highest debt in the European Union, at around €3.3 trillion ($3.9 trillion).
GNA