PARIS (Realist English). Following the sudden resignation of Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu and his government, France is entering uncharted political territory. Constitutional scholar Anne-Charlène Bezzina, speaking to Le Point, said the crisis leaves President Emmanuel Macron with few institutional solutions — and raises the specter of parliamentary dissolution or even an early presidential election.
“I don’t believe a new government can be formed,” Bezzina said. “There is no parliamentary support for it. The left has exhausted its options, and even with centrist backing, it would be insufficient. There is no real institutional way out.”
According to her, the resignation of the president himself could lead to an early election, though this would be an extraordinary step. “When Charles de Gaulle resigned in 1969, it was after he had publicly promised to step down if his constitutional referendum failed,” she recalled. “He still had three years left in his term.”
Bezzina argued that dissolving the National Assembly might now be the only realistic option. “Dissolution only makes sense when all government alternatives have been exhausted — when institutional paralysis sets in,” she said. “That moment has come. None of the other scenarios, including naming a left-wing prime minister, would guarantee stability.”
The crisis also casts doubt on France’s ability to pass a budget before year’s end. Under the constitution, the government should have presented its 2026 budget in early October, but that deadline was already missed. “It’s questionable whether the process can be completed within the required 70 days,” Bezzina warned.
Two paths remain, she said: either the Constitutional Council grants leniency, allowing the budget to pass late — as it did during the Covid crisis — or, if a new government is appointed too late and the Assembly is dissolved, the previous year’s budget would automatically be renewed.
Bezzina rejects the notion of a constitutional breakdown, describing instead a “crisis of political culture” reminiscent of the Fourth Republic. “Governments are resigning before even being censured, aware of the Assembly’s power,” she said. “What we are witnessing is a clash of political blocs and an increasingly polarized debate centered on the presidency itself.”
In the long term, Bezzina sees two possible outcomes: a return to a majoritarian political model or a shift toward coalition or technocratic governments, as in many European democracies. “But I’m not sure France is ready for that yet,” she concluded.
With Macron now isolated and the National Assembly in deadlock, France’s Fifth Republic faces one of its most serious tests in decades — a standoff that could determine the future shape of the country’s political system.
