French President Emmanuel Macron will name his sixth prime minister in two years in the next two days, allaying speculation that a snap election is imminent, the BBC reported.
Outgoing Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on the 8th of October that the chances of a new election were diminishing. He said he had a majority in parliament and that the majority wanted to avoid a snap election. Lecornu, a close ally of Macron, is the third prime minister to resign in a year. After resigning, Macron asked Lecornu to spend two more days talking to parties to find a common position on how to get out of the political crisis.
In a television interview on the evening of the 8th of October, Lecornu gave no indication of who the next prime minister might be, and while he said he had done his job, he did not rule out the possibility that he might continue in office. The politician said that just as lawmakers do not want snap elections, they also feel the need to approve next year’s budget. Lecornu acknowledged, however, that forming a government would be a difficult task given the divisions in parliament.
Lecornu pointed out that those in the new government would have to completely abandon any thoughts of the 2027 presidential election.
The current political crisis began after the 2024 snap elections,
and since then no party has had a majority, making it difficult to pass laws, reforms and even the budget.
The biggest challenge for both Lecornu and his two predecessors has been France’s debt, which this year is already 114% of GDP, the third largest in the eurozone. The previous two prime ministers left office after a confidence vote when they tried to present their austerity plan. Another aspect that Lecornu pointed out and that will need attention is Macron’s planned pension reform.
Meanwhile, some parliamentary parties are not going to change their position. Mathilde Panot, a representative of the radical left party France Unbowed, said that the only solution is Macron’s resignation. Far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who has long called for new elections, announced that she would vote against any new government.
It is difficult to predict which political forces might support a new government. The centrists and Republicans appear to be weakened, and the question is whether Lecornu has managed to somehow convince the Socialists to support the government in the past two days.
Asked about Macron’s possible resignation, Lecornu said that at a time when France needs a stable, internationally recognized president, this is not the right time for such a change.
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