PARIS (Realist English). Sébastien Lecornu, reappointed as France’s prime minister on Friday night after a week of political chaos, urged calm and cross-party cooperation to deliver a national budget before looming EU deadlines.
Visiting a police station in L’Haÿ-les-Roses on Saturday, Lecornu acknowledged the scale of the challenge before him:
“I will do my duty, and I will not be a problem,” he said. “The government must not be hostage to partisan interests.”
The 39-year-old prime minister — France’s fourth in less than a year — admitted there were “not many candidates” willing to take the job, given the country’s fractured parliament and mounting public anger. He stressed that his cabinet would remain focused on “governance, not ambition,” excluding anyone eyeing the 2027 presidential election.
Lecornu’s reappointment is seen as President Emmanuel Macron’s last attempt to stabilize his second term and push through the 2026 budget. Macron’s centrist alliance lacks a parliamentary majority, and France’s ballooning debt and economic slowdown have drawn concern from Brussels and markets alike.
Rivals denounce Macron’s choice
Opposition leaders swiftly condemned Macron’s decision to bring Lecornu back. Jordan Bardella, head of the far-right National Rally, called the move a “bad joke” and vowed to file a no-confidence motion.
The conservative Republicans said they would not join the government, offering only “text-by-text support” to the executive. The Socialists rejected any deal outright, warning they would seek to topple the cabinet unless the government reversed Macron’s controversial 2023 pension reform that raised the retirement age to 64.
A fragile mandate amid economic strain
Lecornu, who had resigned earlier this week after barely a month in office, said he agreed to return due to the urgency of France’s financial crisis but acknowledged that his tenure could be short-lived.
“Either political forces help me and we accompany each other — or they won’t,” he told reporters.
France’s repeated government collapses have left Europe’s second-largest economy mired in political paralysis. Rising poverty, growing debt and investor unease have intensified the pressure on Macron’s presidency, as the country struggles to reconcile fiscal discipline with social stability.
For now, Lecornu’s mission is narrowly defined: avoid a government collapse, pass a budget that satisfies Brussels, and restore at least a semblance of political order — an uphill task in a nation weary of crisis.
