Inside Macron’s political crisis as French government descends into farce: ‘An extraordinary tragicomedy’
France latest fresh political crisis turned into farce this week after prime minister Sebastien Lecornu unexpectedly announced his resignation on Monday, only to be reappointed by Friday.
Lecornu’s initial decision to quit set the tone for another chaotic week in French politics. He threw in the towel less than four weeks after taking office and just 14 hours after he unveiled his minority government.
But within days he was back in the job, reappointed by president Emmanuel Macron and tasked with forming a new cabinet and putting forward a budget next week.
Lecornu said in a statement he accepted the new job offer out of “duty” and had been given a mission “to do everything to give France a budget by the end of the year and respond to the daily problems of our compatriots”.
His 27 days in office were even shorter than Liz Truss’s disastrous turn in Number 10 and made him the shortest serving prime minister in modern French history.
So how did France get to this point, and what happens now?
The political deadlock stems from Macron’s shock decision in June 2024 to dissolve the National Assembly. The snap elections produced a hung parliament, with no bloc able to command a majority in the 577-seat chamber.
The gridlock has unnerved investors, infuriated voters, and stalled efforts to curb France’s spiralling deficit and public debt.
Without stable support, Macron’s governments have stumbled from one crisis to the next, collapsing as they sought backing for unpopular spending cuts.
At the end of the first quarter of 2025, France’s public debt stood at 3.346 trillion euros, or 114% of gross domestic product.
France’s poverty rate also reached 15.4% in 2023, its highest level since records began in 1996, according to the latest data available from the national statistics institute.
One of Macron’s signature policies has been an extremely unpopular pension reform. Forced through parliament without a vote in 2023 despite mass protests, it will gradually increase the retirement age from 62 to 64.
Forming a government remains a daunting challenge within the obstinacy of an increasingly polarised National Assembly.
Lecornu, a close ally of President Macron, had sought to mend the rift through diplomacy, meeting with political opponents and promising a “rupture” from the patterns of old.
