The French PM Lecornu Resigns After Less Than a 30-Day Period in the Role
The nation's PM Lecornu has handed in his resignation, under 24 hours after his government team was announced.
The French presidency confirmed the news after the Prime Minister met Macron for an hour on Monday morning.
This shock move comes only under four weeks after Lecornu was given the PM role following the collapse of the previous government of his predecessor.
Political factions in the French parliament had strongly opposed the makeup of the new government, which was largely unchanged to the previous one, and threatened to vote it down.
Demands for Early Elections and Political Instability
Multiple political groups are now demanding a snap election, with others urging the President to also leave office - even though he has consistently affirmed he will not stand down before his time in office finishes in the year 2027.
"The President needs to pick: dissolution of parliament or stepping down," said Chenu, one of key representatives of the RN party.
Lecornu - the former armed forces minister and a supporter of Macron - was the fifth premier in a two-year span.
Context of Political Crisis
France's political landscape has been highly unstable since last summer, when early legislative polls resulted in a hung parliament.
This has made it difficult for each PM to secure enough backing to pass any bills.
Bayrou's government was defeated in September after lawmakers voted against his fiscal tightening package, which aimed to reduce public expenditure by 44 billion euros.
Economic Pressures and Market Reaction
The French shortfall stood at 5.8% of GDP in the current year and its national debt is more than the total economic output.
That is the third largest government debt in the eurozone after Italy and Greece, and amounting to almost 50,000 euros per person.
Share prices dropped in the Paris bourse after the news of Lecornu's resignation broke on the start of the week.
