France's Premier Lecornu Tenders Resignation After Under a Month in the Role
France's Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has resigned, less than a day after his government team was unveiled.
The French presidency issued a statement after Lecornu met the French President for an 60-minute discussion on Monday morning.
This surprising decision comes only 26 days after he was appointed prime minister following the downfall of the prior administration of François Bayrou.
Political factions in the National Assembly had fiercely criticised the makeup of his ministerial team, which was very close to the previous one, and vowed to reject it.
Calls for New Vote and Government Instability
Multiple political groups are now calling for early elections, with some demanding Macron to resign too - even though he has consistently affirmed he will not stand down before his term ends in five years from now.
"Macron needs to decide: calling new elections or stepping down," said Chenu, one of key representatives of the far right National Rally (RN).
Lecornu - the previous military head and a supporter of Macron - was the fifth premier in under two years.
Context of Government Crisis
France's political landscape has been highly unstable since last summer, when snap parliamentary elections resulted in a no clear majority.
This has created challenges for any prime minister to garner the necessary support to pass any bills.
The previous administration was rejected in last month after parliament refused to back his austerity budget, which aimed to slash government spending by $51 billion.
Financial Challenges and Stock Response
The nation's budget gap stood at 5.8 percent of economic output in the current year and its government debt is 114% of GDP.
That is the third largest government debt in the eurozone after two southern European nations, and equivalent to almost 50k euros for each resident.
Markets declined in the Paris exchange after the news of Lecornu's resignation broke on Monday morning.
