French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu Tenders Resignation Following Less Than a Month in Office
France's Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has stepped down, under 24 hours after his government team was announced.
The Elysée palace confirmed the news after Lecornu met the French President for an meeting on Monday morning.
This shock move comes only less than a month after he was given the PM role following the dissolution of the prior administration of François Bayrou.
Various groups in the legislature had strongly opposed the makeup of the new government, which was very close to the previous one, and vowed to reject it.
Pressure for Snap Polls and Government Unrest
Multiple political groups are now demanding new parliamentary polls, with certain voices demanding Macron to also leave office - despite the fact that he has always said he will not resign before his mandate concludes in five years from now.
"The President needs to choose: parliament's dissolution or stepping down," said Sébastien Chenu, one of prominent members of the far right National Rally (RN).
The outgoing PM - the former armed forces minister and a Macron loyalist - was France's fifth prime minister in less than 24 months.
Context of Government Turmoil
French politics has been highly unstable since last summer, when early legislative polls resulted in a no clear majority.
This has made it difficult for every premier to obtain required votes to enact new laws.
The former cabinet was rejected in September after the assembly refused to back his spending cuts plan, which aimed to slash government spending by €44bn.
Financial Pressures and Market Response
The nation's budget gap stood at 5.8 percent of economic output in the current year and its government debt is more than the total economic output.
That is the third largest government debt in the euro area after Greece and Italy, and equal to almost 50,000 euros per person.
Markets declined in the Paris bourse after the resignation report was released on Monday.