France's Premier Sébastien Lecornu Steps Down Following Under a 30-Day Period in Office
France's Prime Minister Lecornu has resigned, under 24 hours after his ministers was announced.
The Elysée palace made the announcement after the Prime Minister met the French President for an hour on Monday morning.
This unexpected development comes only 26 days after he was named premier following the downfall of the prior administration of his predecessor.
Various groups in the French parliament had strongly opposed the structure of Lecornu's cabinet, which was largely unchanged to Bayrou's, and vowed to reject it.
Demands for New Vote and Political Instability
Several parties are now calling for early elections, with certain voices calling for the President to resign too - despite the fact that 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 stepping down," said Sébastien Chenu, one of key representatives of the RN party.
The outgoing PM - the ex-defense chief and a supporter of Macron - was France's fifth prime minister in less than 24 months.
Context of Political Crisis
France's political landscape has been highly unstable since mid-2024, when snap parliamentary elections resulted in a deadlocked assembly.
This has created challenges for each PM to garner the necessary support to pass any bills.
The former cabinet was defeated in September after the assembly voted against his austerity budget, which aimed to reduce public expenditure by €44bn.
Financial Pressures and Market Response
The nation's budget gap hit 5.8% of GDP in the current year and its public debt is more than the total economic output.
That is the number three debt level in the eurozone after two southern European nations, and amounting to almost €50,000 per French citizen.
Share prices dropped in the Paris bourse after the resignation report was released on Monday.
