The French PM Lecornu Tenders Resignation Following Under a 30-Day Period in Office
The nation's PM Lecornu has resigned, less than a day after his government team was announced.
The Elysée palace issued a statement after Lecornu met the French President for an meeting on Monday morning.
This unexpected development comes only less than a month after he was given the PM role following the collapse of the previous government of François Bayrou.
Parties across the board in the legislature had fiercely criticised the makeup of his ministerial team, which was very close to the previous one, and threatened to vote it down.
Demands for Snap Polls and Political Instability
A number of factions are now calling for a snap election, with some urging Macron to resign too - although he has repeatedly stated he will not resign before his term ends in 2027.
"Macron needs to pick: parliament's dissolution or resignation," said Chenu, one of leading figures of the RN party.
The outgoing PM - the ex-defense chief and a Macron loyalist - was France's fifth prime minister in under two years.
Context of Political Crisis
French politics has been very volatile since mid-2024, when snap parliamentary elections resulted in a hung parliament.
This has posed obstacles for every premier to obtain required votes to enact new laws.
The previous administration was defeated in September after lawmakers declined to support his spending cuts plan, which aimed to slash government spending by 44 billion euros.
Economic Challenges and Market Reaction
The nation's budget gap hit 5.8% of GDP in 2024 and its public debt is more than the total economic output.
That is the third highest public debt in the European monetary union after Greece and Italy, and amounting to almost 50k euros for each resident.
Stocks fell sharply in the French stock market after the resignation report was released on Monday.
