The French Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, visited a police station in the Paris region this morning, where he spoke with police officers and gave a speech on security. As if it were a normal visit within the daily agenda of a prime minister. But nothing is normal in this unprecedented political crisis in France. This is revealed by Lecornu’s own defeatist attitude, on Friday night by the president, Emmanuel Macron, after having resigned last Monday, and who warned today that “there were not many candidates” for the position in the face of veto threats from several parties. Furthermore, he has admitted that he has no agenda.
“The spectacle that the political class has been putting on for several days is ridiculous,” said Lecornu, who noted: “I have no agenda (…). I have no other ambition than to get out of this situation that is difficult for everyone,” he admitted. “When I resigned on Monday I said that the conditions for me to be prime minister are not met,” he added.
The political class remains stunned after Macron decided on Friday night to appoint him again, five days after accepting his resignation. He primer Lecornu was in office for 27 days and his Government was appointed on the day for 836 minutes, while the opposition threatened to overthrow him before it even began. A record in the Fifth Republic. He was then commissioned to sound out the parties again to resolve the crisis and avoid early legislative elections – the last ones were held in July last year – but expectations that Macron would finally name another prime minister were not met. Lecornu stays.
The question amid the prevailing political chaos is how long the second Lecornu. It could not make it past Thursday, if the parties present a motion of censure on Tuesday, which would be voted on two days later. They have advanced their intention to do so Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s France Insoumise and National Regroupment, Marine Le Pen’s party. The left-wing opposition claims the position of head of the Executive for its camp, and the extreme right, which is growing in the polls, wants to go to the polls.
Lecornu must quickly appoint a Government to meet constitutional deadlines to approve next year’s budget. The law must be presented this Monday in the Council of Ministers and two days later in the Assembly. It has to be approved before the end of the year. If this is not achieved, the economic blockade would be added to the political chaos, since a special law would have to be approved that leaves little room for maneuver.
“We must form a Government that corresponds to parliamentary reality,” that “is free and is not a prisoner of partisan interests,” the prime minister said this Saturday. Macron has not wanted to throw in the towel yet and
The problem is that fewer and fewer want to be part of an Executive that is practically stillborn, as it could be quickly censured. Parties that were part of it until now, such as Los Republicanos and Horizons, are meeting this morning to decide whether or not to participate in this attempt to form a Government. The Republicans, after a meeting to decide it, believe that “the conditions to integrate the Government are not met”, but they will not bring down Lecornu so that a budget can be approved, and they will provide him with “demanding support”, text by text.
At the heart of the discussions is the pension law, which delayed the retirement age to 64 and was approved in the spring of 2023 after months of street demonstrations. It was one of the key reforms of Macron’s second term. On Friday, in his meeting with the opposition parties, he partially relented and opened up to delaying its application by one year, to 2028. Lecornu said this Saturday in this regard that “all debates are possible.”
The Socialist Party calls for the repeal of the reform and makes it conditional on withdrawing a motion of censure. “We will immediately censure the Lecornu Government if it does not change its policy clearly, with the immediate suspension of the pension reform,” warned the party spokesperson, Pierre Jouvet. On the contrary, parties such as Horizons and Los Republicanos have warned that they will not be part of a second Lecornu Government if the heart of the law is touched.
Macron is increasingly alone and has lost the support of the parties that have supported him until now and that, with a view to the presidential elections in 2027, seek to ensure that the current chaos affects them as little as possible. This is the case of the conservative party of Los Republicanos, where there is a certain division. The resigned Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, has already said that he will not continue.
The president attributes the current crisis to the fragmentation of the National Assembly. According to Macron’s entourage, it was the fall of François Bayrou just over a month ago that unleashed the chaos. Since Macron decided to dissolve the Assembly in June 2024, the country has had four prime ministers in just over a year.
Early legislative elections remain on the horizon, but first a budget must be approved. The president of the Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, asked this Saturday for parliamentary work to be resumed as soon as possible. Lecornu “is the choice of the president (…). The National Assembly is prepared and I hope that the Government will be appointed quickly to address the budget issue.”
