France’s new prime minister resigned on Monday after less than one month in the role.
Sebastien Lecornu, 39, met with president Emmanuel Macron, who accepted his resignation, the French presidency said in a statement.
Lecornu’s resignation came just a day after naming his government and after only two weeks in office.
He was due to deliver his general policy statement to the National Assembly on Tuesday.
Lecornu was appointed prime minister on September 9, a day after a vote of confidence toppled François Bayrou as head of the government.
Lecornu, the seventh prime minister of Macron’s presidency, was tasked with consulting with political parties to adopt France’s next budget.
Political opponents on the left and right had condemned Lecornu’s appointment, while some centrist allies had backed the decision.
Moments after Lecornu’s resignation was announced, National Rally president Jordan Bardella called on Macron to dissolve the National Assembly.
“There can be no restored stability without a return to the polls and without the dissolution of the National Assembly,” the leader of the right-wing populist party wrote on X.
Mathilde Panot, president of the La France Insoumise group, wrote on X: “Lecornu resigns. 3 Prime Ministers defeated in less than a year. The countdown has begun. Macron must go.”
The Paris Stock Exchange fell by nearly two per cent on Monday around 08:00 GMT, following the announcement of Lecornu’s resignation.
Lecornu has spent weeks trying to form a functioning government against a backdrop of stretched public finances and political instability as the hard left and hard right continue to gain ground.
More to follow…
