French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu Tenders Resignation Following Less Than a 30-Day Period in the Role

Government building Sébastien Lecornu portrait

The nation's PM Sébastien Lecornu has handed in his resignation, shortly after his cabinet was unveiled.

The presidential office issued a statement after the Prime Minister met the French President for an hour on Monday morning.

This shock move comes only 26 days after Lecornu was named premier following the collapse of the previous government of his predecessor.

Parties across the board in the legislature had fiercely criticised the structure of his ministerial team, which was mostly similar to the previous one, and promised to block its approval.

Calls for New Vote and Political Unrest

Multiple political groups are now clamouring for new parliamentary polls, with others demanding the President to resign too - despite the fact that he has repeatedly stated he will not leave before his term ends in the year 2027.

"The President needs to pick: dissolution of parliament or stepping down," said Chenu, one of leading figures of the RN party.

Lecornu - the former armed forces minister and a ally of the President - was France's fifth prime minister in less than 24 months.

Background of Political Crisis

France's political landscape has been very volatile since July 2024, when snap parliamentary elections resulted in a hung parliament.

This has posed obstacles for each PM to garner the necessary support to enact new laws.

The previous administration was voted down in September after the assembly declined to support his fiscal tightening package, which aimed to reduce public expenditure by 44 billion euros.

Economic Challenges and Stock Response

The nation's budget gap stood at 5.8% of GDP in the current year and its public debt is more than the total economic output.

That is the third largest government debt in the European monetary union after Greece and Italy, and amounting to almost 50k euros for each resident.

Share prices dropped in the French stock market after the resignation report emerged on the start of the week.

Zachary Cruz
Zachary Cruz

A tech enthusiast and cloud computing expert with a passion for sharing insights on digital transformation and emerging technologies.