New French PM Lecornu resigns after nearly four weeks in office

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has resigned nearly four weeks after being appointed, the Élysée Palace announced on Monday, leaving President...

06.10.2025, 15:36 Uhr French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has resigned nearly four weeks after being appointed, the Élysée Palace announced on Monday, leaving President Emmanuel Macron potentially forced to search for another new prime minister for the third time in a year.Lecornu submitted his resignation to Macron, who accepted it, the Élysée Palace said.The prime minister had unveiled the allocation of key ministries in his government on Sunday evening, but the leader of the Republicans party, Bruno Retailleau, had expressed his dissatisfaction with the role of his conservatives in the new Cabinet and called a crisis meeting for Monday.There was speculation about a possible withdrawal of the conservatives from the coalition with Macron's centrist camp, which lacks a parliamentary majority.Retailleau had previously demanded a third of the ministerial posts for his party. Conservatives were also reportedly outraged that long-serving economy and finance minister Bruno Le Maire, who left office in 2024 and belongs to Macron's centrist party, was unexpectedly appointed defence minister.Criticism of the parties from LecornuFollowing his resignation, Lecornu accused the parties in the divided French parliament of politically blocking the country. "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. Budget crisis in FranceThe resignation means that this latest attempt at forming a stable government has failed, extending France's political crisis and putting Macron under enormous pressure.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 that 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.President Macron, whose office is independent of the government, had previously categorically ruled out resigning before the end of his term of office in spring 2027. He did not initially comment publicly on the predicament created by Lecornu's resignation.Former 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. France currently holds the highest debt in the European Union, at around €3.3 trillion ($3.9 trillion). (c) 2025 dpa Deutsche Presse Agentur GmbH