The French PM Lecornu Steps Down Following Less Than a Month in Office
France's Prime Minister Lecornu has stepped down, less than a day after his cabinet was unveiled.
The French presidency issued a statement after the Prime Minister met President Emmanuel Macron for an 60-minute discussion on Monday morning.
This surprising decision comes only under four weeks after he was given the PM role following the dissolution of the previous government of his predecessor.
Parties across the board in the National Assembly had sharply condemned the composition of his ministerial team, which was largely unchanged to Bayrou's, and threatened to vote it down.
Demands for Snap Polls and Political Unrest
Several parties are now clamouring for early elections, with others urging Macron to resign too - despite the fact that he has repeatedly stated he will not stand down before his mandate concludes in the year 2027.
"Macron needs to decide: calling new elections or stepping down," said Chenu, one of leading figures of the far right National Rally (RN).
The outgoing PM - the former armed forces minister and a ally of the President - was the fifth French PM in a two-year span.
Background of Government Turmoil
French politics has been highly unstable since mid-2024, when snap parliamentary elections resulted in a deadlocked assembly.
This has created challenges for every premier to obtain required votes to pass any bills.
The former cabinet was defeated in last month after parliament refused to back his spending cuts plan, which aimed to slash government spending by €44bn.
Economic Pressures and Market Response
The French shortfall stood at 5.8 percent of economic output in the current year and its government debt is 114 percent of GDP.
That is the third largest government debt in the eurozone after Greece and Italy, and amounting to almost 50,000 euros per person.
Markets declined in the Paris exchange after the announcement about the PM broke on Monday morning.
