The French PM Lecornu Steps Down Following Under a Month in Office
The nation's PM Lecornu has handed in his resignation, 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 surprising decision comes only under four weeks after Lecornu was given the PM role following the collapse of the previous government of his predecessor.
Parties across the board in the National Assembly had fiercely criticised the makeup of the new government, which was largely unchanged to Bayrou's, and threatened to vote it down.
Pressure for Early Elections and Political Unrest
Several parties are now demanding a snap election, with certain voices calling for Macron to also leave office - even though he has always said he will not leave before his mandate concludes in five years from now.
"The President needs to decide: dissolution of parliament or resignation," said Sébastien Chenu, one of prominent members of the far right National Rally (RN).
The outgoing PM - the former armed forces minister and a Macron loyalist - was France's fifth prime minister in under two years.
Background of Government Crisis
France's political landscape has been very volatile since mid-2024, when early legislative polls resulted in a deadlocked assembly.
This has created challenges for any prime minister to garner the necessary support to pass any bills.
Bayrou's government was defeated in September after parliament refused to back his spending cuts plan, which aimed to cut state costs by 44 billion euros.
Economic Challenges and Market Response
The nation's budget gap hit 5.8% of GDP in the current year and its public debt is 114 percent of GDP.
That is the third highest public debt in the euro area after two southern European nations, and amounting to almost 50k euros for each resident.
Markets declined in the Paris exchange after the resignation report was released on the start of the week.
