France’s last prime minister Sebastian Lecornu was reappointed as prime minister by President Emmanuel Macron on Friday night, following hours of discussion in the Elysée Palace. The failed—and now returned—politician resigned from his office on Monday just hours after the cabinet was revealed. The former defence minister is now back as the head of the government.
“I accept—out of duty— the mission entrusted to me by the President of the Republic to do everything to give France a budget for the end of the year and to respond to the problems of the daily lives of our compatriots,” wrote Lecornu just minutes after his appointment on X.
Macron’s entourage insisted PM Lecornu was given a “carte blanche” to start over and have a budget ready by the end of the year. Reactions from other parties were harsh, with Rassemblement National’s (RN) Jordan Bardella calling the reappointment “a bad joke, a democratic disgrace, and a humiliation for the French people.” The RN leader promised his party will “of course immediately” put forward a vote of no confidence against “this doomed coalition, whose sole reason for existing is the fear of dissolution, that is, of the people.”
Before the decision was made, former Macron Prime Minister (2017-2020) Édouard Philippe, leader of the Horizons party said his party would leave the government if a Macronist PM were to be chosen.
About the upcoming challenges, Lecornu said “all the issues raised during the consultations carried out in recent days will be open to parliamentary debate” and “the restoration of our public accounts remains a priority for our future and our sovereignty.” Sending a warning to the other parties the old-new Prime Minister emphasised “those who enter the government will have to commit to disconnecting themselves from presidential ambitions for 2027.”
