Paris (TDI): France’s new Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu resigned on Monday, only 14 hours after unveiling his cabinet, plunging the country deeper into political uncertainty and triggering sharp declines in French markets and the euro.
The resignation, both sudden and unprecedented, came amid mounting threats from both opposition parties and government allies to bring down his administration almost immediately after it was formed.
The far-right National Rally (RN) swiftly called on President Emmanuel Macron to dissolve parliament and hold fresh elections, arguing that the government no longer had any legitimacy to govern.
Lecornu, one of Macron’s closest allies, had spent weeks holding consultations with various political factions before announcing his ministerial team on Sunday. The new cabinet was due to hold its first meeting later on Monday, but political backlash came fast.
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Critics from across the spectrum accused Lecornu of assembling a government that leaned too far to the right, while others said it failed to address mounting social and economic challenges. With France’s parliament already deeply divided and no bloc commanding a majority, questions over the government’s survival quickly turned into calls for its resignation.
On Monday morning, Lecornu handed in his resignation at the Élysée Palace. “Mr. Sébastien Lecornu has submitted the resignation of his Government to the President of the Republic, who has accepted it,” the presidential office said in a brief statement.
The development marks yet another chapter in France’s ongoing political volatility. Since Macron’s re-election in 2022, his administration has struggled to maintain a stable parliamentary majority. A snap election last year only made matters worse, resulting in an even more fragmented National Assembly.
Lecornu, appointed just last month, was Macron’s fifth prime minister in two years, underscoring the instability that has gripped French politics.
RN leader Jordan Bardella said Lecornu’s departure proved that only new elections could restore legitimacy.
“There can be no return to stability without a return to the polls and the dissolution of the National Assembly,” Bardella said.
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The political upheaval rattled financial markets. Paris’s CAC 40 index fell 1.5%, making it Europe’s worst performer of the day. Banking stocks were hit hardest, with BNP Paribas, Société Générale, and Crédit Agricole tumbling between 4% and 5%.
The euro also weakened, slipping 0.7% to $1.1665, as investors reacted to the renewed political uncertainty in one of the eurozone’s largest economies.
