France has been thrown into yet another political tailspin as Prime Minister Sebastian Lecornu resigns after a mere 27 days in office, marking a humiliating blow to President Emmanuel Macron’s already shaky leadership, as the Daily Mail reports.
Just weeks after his appointment, Lecornu’s exit on Monday -- accepted by Macron -- adds fuel to the fire of France’s ongoing political chaos, compounded by a hung parliament, public unrest, and a staggering national debt of 114% of GDP.
The trouble began last year when Macron’s risky call for snap parliamentary elections backfired, resulting in a fragmented National Assembly where no group holds a clear majority.
Since then, France has churned through prime ministers like a revolving door, with Lecornu becoming the fifth in two years to occupy the role, following François Bayrou’s ousting in a confidence vote after nine months.
Bayrou, before his fall in September, had pushed a drastic plan to slash £35 billion from public spending, targeting pensions, welfare, holidays, and civil servant jobs -- a bitter pill that failed to cure France’s fiscal woes.
Enter Lecornu, appointed last month as a supposed steady hand, only to face immediate backlash for a cabinet that critics from all sides deemed either too right-leaning or not conservative enough.
Despite assembling his team on Sunday, Lecornu couldn’t even make it to the first cabinet meeting scheduled for Monday afternoon before tendering his resignation, as confirmed by the Elysee’s press office: “Mr Sebastien Lecornu has submitted the resignation of his Government.”
That statement might sound routine, but let’s be clear -- losing yet another prime minister in record time signals a leadership crisis that no amount of polished press releases can mask.
Adding to the mess, France’s CAC 40 stock index tumbled 2% in early trading post-resignation, with banks taking the hardest hit, though the index remains up 7% for the year -- a small consolation for jittery investors.
Meanwhile, the streets are erupting with fury, as major rioting broke out within 24 hours of Lecornu’s appointment, driven by the social media-fueled “Let’s Block Everything” campaign, backed by the CGT, France’s largest trade union.
Compared to the Yellow Vest movement for its decentralized punch, this leaderless push to force Macron’s resignation reeks of frustration with elitist governance, though Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau warns of an “insurrectional mood” hijacked by radical elements.
Retailleau’s claim of an “ultra-Left” takeover might hold water, but it’s hard to ignore the raw sentiment from protesters like Nicolas, a 19-year-old student in Paris, who snapped, “Everyone is sick of Macron.”
Nicolas didn’t stop there, adding, “The new prime minister will be as useless as the last one” -- a brutal but unsurprising verdict from a generation fed up with political musical chairs.
Even market analysts are sounding alarms, with IG’s Chris Beauchamp noting that losing four prime ministers looks like “a major crisis,” leaving markets “blindsided” by this latest chapter in France’s governmental soap opera.
Lecornu, once the youngest defense minister in French history and a loyal Macron ally since joining his centrist movement in 2017, was seen as a safe bet without presidential ambitions -- a “loyal soldier” lacking charisma, per an anonymous ministerial adviser -- but even that couldn’t save him from becoming a casualty of France’s fractured political landscape.
