🔗 Share this article

The nation's PM Lecornu has resigned, under 24 hours after his cabinet was unveiled.

The presidential office made the announcement after Lecornu met the French President for an hour on the start of the week.

This shock move comes only 26 days after he was named premier following the dissolution of the prior administration of his predecessor.

Various groups in the French parliament had fiercely criticised the composition of his ministerial team, which was mostly similar to Bayrou's, and promised to block its approval.

Calls for New Vote and Political Unrest

Several parties are now calling for a snap election, with certain voices urging the President to step down as well - despite the fact that he has consistently affirmed he will not resign before his term ends in five years from now.

"The President needs to choose: parliament's dissolution or leaving office," said Chenu, one of key representatives of the National Rally.

Lecornu - the previous military head and a Macron loyalist - was the fifth premier in a two-year span.

Context of Government Turmoil

French politics has been highly unstable since last summer, when early legislative polls resulted in a deadlocked assembly.

This has posed obstacles for any prime minister to obtain required votes to pass any bills.

The former cabinet was defeated in September after the assembly voted against his spending cuts plan, which aimed to cut state costs by €44bn.

Financial Pressures and Market Response

The French shortfall reached 5.8 percent of economic output in the current year and its national debt is 114% of GDP.

That is the third highest public debt in the European monetary union after Italy and Greece, and equal to almost 50k euros for each resident.

Markets declined in the Paris bourse after the news of Lecornu's resignation emerged on Monday.