France: PM Lecornu to form new government early next week

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu will form the country’s new government no earlier than the beginning of next week.

“The earliest the appointment of ministers can take place is the beginning of next week,” the French TF1 channel quoted an unnamed source as saying.

France has endured a year of political instability since President Emmanuel Macron's snap legislative elections in July 2024, which fragmented the National Assembly into a hung parliament: no single bloc holds a majority, with the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP) edging out Macron's centrists and the far-right National Rally (RN). This has toppled four governments in 15 months, including François Bayrou's in September 2025, over a disputed austerity budget amid a €3.3 trillion debt crisis (equivalent to 114% of GDP).

Sébastien Lecornu, a 39-year-old Macron ally and former defense minister, was first appointed prime minister on September 9, 2025, tasked with securing a coalition for the 2026 budget. After three weeks of negotiations, he unveiled a cabinet on October 5—retaining figures like ex-finance minister Bruno Le Maire—but it collapsed within 14 hours amid backlash from conservatives (e.g., Republicans' Bruno Retailleau), leftists, and RN for lacking "renewal." Lecornu resigned on October 6, the shortest tenure in Fifth Republic history (27 days).

Macron, rejecting snap elections or resignation calls, tasked Lecornu (as caretaker) with 48-hour talks. Despite failing to forge consensus, Macron reappointed him on October 10, granting "carte blanche" for a diverse, non-partisan lineup to pass the budget by year's end—avoiding automatic dissolution if delayed past October 14. Opposition vows no-confidence votes: RN's Jordan Bardella called it a "bad joke," while La France Insoumise (LFI) and Socialists decry it as undemocratic.

By Khagan Isayev