PARIS (Realist English). French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday reappointed Sébastien Lecornu as prime minister, just days after his resignation, in a bid to restore stability and rally parliament behind a 2026 budget plan.
The move, announced after a week of political paralysis, is seen as a gamble by Macron, 47, whose leadership faces mounting pressure from across the political spectrum. Opposition leaders have urged him to either call snap elections or step down, accusing him of deepening France’s worst institutional crisis in decades.
Lecornu, 38, pledged to act “out of duty” and to deliver a workable budget by Monday.
“We must put an end to this political crisis that exasperates the French people and to this instability that is harmful to France’s image and its interests,” he wrote on X.
The president met earlier with mainstream party leaders in an attempt to build consensus, but leftist parties reacted angrily to his decision to retain a centrist loyalist instead of choosing a figure from their ranks — a sign that Lecornu’s new government could face the same fragility as its predecessors.
If parliament once again collapses in deadlock, Macron may be forced to dissolve the National Assembly, a scenario analysts say could benefit the far-right National Rally (RN) led by Jordan Bardella, who immediately announced plans to table a no-confidence motion.
France’s ongoing turmoil has hit investor confidence and weakened growth. The Bank of France estimated that political uncertainty could shave 0.2 percentage points off GDP this year, while Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has warned that the crisis is “eroding business sentiment.”
Macron’s centrist coalition has struggled to impose fiscal discipline since losing its absolute majority in 2022. The 2026 budget is central to his plan to cut the deficit from 5.4% to below the EU’s 3% ceiling, but negotiations have been fraught. The left demands higher taxes on the wealthy and a rollback of the 2023 pension reform, while conservatives insist on deeper spending cuts.
During the talks, Macron offered to delay raising the retirement age to 64 until 2028, but Green Party leader Marine Tondelier dismissed the gesture as “insufficient.”
The reappointment of Lecornu marks Macron’s fifth premiership change in less than two years, reflecting the growing instability of a political system once seen as a pillar of the Fifth Republic. Whether this new government can survive long enough to pass a budget — and avert another collapse — now depends on fragile alliances and the president’s diminishing authority.
