Macron to Name New French PM Within 48 Hours

Paris: After the resignation of outgoing prime minister Sebastien Lecornu dragged the country into a deeper political crisis, French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said in a statement on Wednesday that he would choose a new prime minister within the next 48 hours.

Lecornu had previously said in an interview on French television that he expected a new prime minister to be appointed in order to resolve the crisis, rather than holding early parliamentary elections or Macron resigning.

Macron on Monday gave Lecornu until Wednesday evening to find a way out of the months-long impasse over the austerity budget.

Lecornu resigned early on Monday after less than a month in office following the appointment of a pro-Macron cabinet that caused consternation on the right and left.

“The President thanks Sebastien Lecornu for his work in the last 48 hours,” the Presidency said in a statement to AFP. he said.

It was stated in the statement that “the prime minister will be determined within 48 hours” and that “the path is possible” to reach an agreement on the budget by the end of the year.

Macron had the option of reappointing Lecornu, naming the eighth prime minister of his increasingly troubled tenure, calling early parliamentary elections or even resigning.

The escalation of the crisis has turned into Macron’s worst political headache since taking office in 2017.

Close allies abandoned the increasingly isolated president.

Lecornu said he told Macron that the possibility of early elections had been “reduced” because there was a majority against dissolution in the lower house of parliament.

After former prime minister Edouard Philippe said Macron should resign and call early elections for the presidency, Lecornu insisted that the president serve out his term until 2027.

Lecornu said that “this is not the time to change the president.”

“Let’s not make the French believe that the president will vote on the budget.”

‘The job is done’

Claiming that a more technocratic government could be elected, Lecornu said that people in the new cabinet should not have “ambitions” to be candidates in the 2027 presidential elections.

“The situation is already difficult enough. We need a team with the determination to roll up their sleeves and solve the country’s problems until the presidential election,” he said.

He added that a “way” must be found to start a discussion on reversing the retirement age increase, the most controversial domestic reform of Macron’s tenure, but warned that any suspension would cost at least three billion euros ($3.5 billion) in 2027.

Education Minister Elisabeth Borne, who was prime minister when the reform was passed by parliament without a vote, called for the reform to be suspended.

Lecornu gave no clue as to who the next prime minister would be, but hinted that he would not be reappointed, without completely ruling out such an outcome.

Lecornu, who has served as defense minister for more than three years, described himself as a “warrior monk” and said, “I have tried everything… Tonight my mission is completed.”

He added that a new budget could be presented to the cabinet on Monday.

But he warned it “won’t be perfect” and there will be “a lot to discuss”.

Vote against ‘everything’

Whoever is chosen as prime minister will likely face the same problems that faced Lecornu and his two predecessors, Michel Barnier and Francois Bayrou. Both were overthrown by parliament.

Macron’s centrists have governed in a de facto coalition with right-wing Republicans after losing their majority in the 2022 election and losing even more seats in snap elections last year.

But even this combination is in a minority in parliament, and any prime minister risks being voted out again if the left joins with the far-right Marine Le Pen National Rally.

Le Pen said on Wednesday that she would block all actions by any new government and “vote against everything.”

Le Pen’s anti-immigrant party sees its best chance of coming to power in the 2027 presidential election, when Macron is barred from running.

The Socialists, whom Macron has long sought to distance from the broad left alliance, could be critical to any government’s hope of survival.

But Socialist leader Olivier Faure complained in a meeting with Lecornu earlier on Wednesday that the prime minister “gave no assurances” that pension reform would be suspended.