Beleaguered President Emmanuel Macron has appointed outgoing defense minister Sébastien Lecornu as prime minister, handing him the daunting task of trying to find consensus in a divided parliament and pass the 2026 budget.
Earlier on Monday, outgoing Prime Minister François Bayrou submitted his resignation, which Macron accepted. He was forced out after just nine months in office, undone by his failure to deliver a central promise: pushing through an unpopular plan to tame France’s ballooning deficit.
Before the confidence vote, Bayrou warned lawmakers that ousting him would not resolve the country’s problems. “You have the power to bring down the government, but you do not have the power to erase reality,” he said. “Reality will remain relentless: expenses will continue to rise, and the burden of debt, already unbearable, will grow heavier and more costly.”
Lecornu now faces the dual challenge of steering France out of its financial morass while leading a government braced for mass protests. Nationwide demonstrations and highway blockades are set for Wednesday, followed by a broader union led strike on September 18.
The French presidency said Macron has tasked Lecornu “with consulting the political forces represented in Parliament with a view to adopting a budget for the nation and building the agreements essential to the decisions that will be taken in the coming months.”
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