France's Premier Lecornu Tenders Resignation After Less Than a Month in Office
The nation's PM Lecornu has handed in his resignation, shortly after his ministers was presented.
The French presidency made the announcement after Lecornu met President Emmanuel Macron for an 60-minute discussion on the start of the week.
This surprising decision comes only under four weeks after he was given the PM role following the downfall of the previous government of François Bayrou.
Parties across the board in the French parliament had sharply condemned the structure of Lecornu's cabinet, which was very close to the previous one, and threatened to vote it down.
Calls for Early Elections and Political Instability
A number of factions are now demanding a snap election, with some urging the President to resign too - although he has consistently affirmed he will not leave before his term ends in 2027.
"The President needs to pick: parliament's dissolution or resignation," said Sébastien Chenu, one of prominent members of the National Rally.
Lecornu - the previous military head and a supporter of Macron - was France's fifth prime minister in under two years.
Context of Government Turmoil
The nation's governance has been highly unstable since mid-2024, when early legislative polls resulted in a deadlocked assembly.
This has made it difficult for any prime minister to secure enough backing to pass any bills.
Bayrou's government was voted down in autumn after the assembly declined to support his austerity budget, which aimed to reduce public expenditure by 44 billion euros.
Financial Pressures and Stock Response
The nation's budget gap stood at 5.8% of GDP in the current year and its government debt is 114 percent of GDP.
That is the number three debt level in the eurozone after Greece and Italy, and amounting to almost 50k euros for each resident.
Share prices dropped in the French stock market after the announcement about the PM was released on Monday morning.
