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Agence France-Presse

President Emmanuel Macron has come under pressure to find a rapid solution to France’s political deadlock, after his first prime minister and one-time ally urged him to resign for the sake of the country.
Macron, president since 2017, has been battling the worst domestic political crisis of his presidency after the shock resignation on Monday of his seventh prime minister, Sebastien Lecornu.
Macron gave Lecornu until Wednesday evening to thrash out a compromise for a sustainable coalition government, but it is far from certain these efforts can succeed.
If this fails, one option is for Macron to dissolve parliament and hold snap legislative elections in the hope of having a more workable make-up in the legislature.

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen said on Wednesday she would block all action by any new government, compounding the country’s political deadlock.
“I vote against everything,” said the three-time far-right presidential candidate.
She repeated a call for Macron to “seriously consider” dissolving parliament and call early legislative elections, or “even his resignation”.
“The problem with our political leaders today is that they get on the horse not to go somewhere, but for a rodeo,” Le Pen, 57, said at a livestock fair in central France.

Macron on Tuesday evening held talks with the speakers of both the upper and lower houses of parliament, said an aide, asking not to be named.
The purpose of the separate meetings was not made clear, but the president is obliged to consult both speakers if new elections are planned.
After already going through three prime ministers within the space of a year, Macron faces growing exasperation, including within his own camp.
His outgoing spokeswoman Aurore Berge insisted on Tuesday that he would stay in office “until the last minute of his term” in 2027.
But former prime minister Edouard Philippe, Macron’s premier from 2017 to 2020, said presidential polls should be held early once a budget is passed, in comments Le Parisien daily described as a “political bomb”.
The next presidential elections, where Le Pen’s far-right has its best ever chance of winning power, are due in 2027 with Macron barred from running and Philippe already declared as a candidate.

Denouncing a “distressing political game”, Philippe told the broadcaster RTL it was up to Macron to help France “emerge in an orderly and dignified manner from a political crisis that is harming the country”.
The other option for Macron is to appoint an entirely new prime minister, who would be the eighth head of government of his mandate.
France has been locked in a political crisis since Macron’s gamble to hold legislative elections in the summer of 2024 backfired, resulting in a hung parliament and strengthened far-right.
The domestic isolation of Macron, who was filmed on Monday walking alone by the banks of the Seine deep in a telephone conversation, contrasts with his visibility on the international stage, where he is seeking to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine alongside US President Donald Trump.
Lecornu planned meetings with political groups from Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday morning in an attempt to break the impasse.
By late Tuesday, momentum was growing for him to open the door to suspending a deeply unpopular pensions reform pushed through in 2023, said leftist politician Raphael Glucksmann as he left the prime minister’s office.
But it would underscore the challenges facing the next premier of finding enough support for a cost-cutting budget at a time when France’s public debt has reached a record high.
Le Pen and her 30-year-old lieutenant Jordan Bardella, who is expected to stand for the presidency if she is barred over a court conviction, turned down Lecornu’s invitation for talks, their National Rally party said.
“These umpteenth negotiations no longer aim to protect the interests of the French people, but those of the president himself,” the party added.
Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure said his party would attend talks with Lecornu, adding that the next premier should come from the left.


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France

Macron urged to quit as resignation of seventh prime minister deepens French crisis

French President Emmanuel Macron at UN headquarters in New York last month. Photo: Reuters

French far-right keader Marine Le Pen. Photo: AFP

Outgoing French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu. Photo: EPA

Former prime minister Edouard Philippe. File photo: AFP

French Prime Minister Lecornu resigns after less than a month in office in blow for Macron

Sebastien Lecornu has resigned as France’s prime minister. Photo: AFP

Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s opposition RN partry said it would be “wise” for Macron to resign. Photo: AFP

France’s President Emmanuel Macron (right) accepted Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu’s resignation, plunging the European nation further into political deadlock. Photo: AFP

France’s Macron calls Trump after being stopped by police in New York

US President Donald Trump (right) and French President Emmanuel Macron shake hands in the White House in February. Photo: EPA-EFE

Heavy traffic surrounds local streets as police and other security teams patrol around the United Nations as world leaders arrive for the 80th session of the UN’s General Assembly in New York City. Photo: AFP

French first lady Brigitte Macron to provide ‘scientific’ gender evidence in US lawsuit

French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron. Photo: dpa

Why is France’s new PM headbutting colleagues?

Then-French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu (left) welcomes Deputy Prime Minister of Australia Richard Marles during a ceremony in Brest, Brittany, in September 2022. Photo: AP

Yael Braun-Pivet (left), president of the French National Assembly, bids farewell to France’s new Prime minister Sebastien Lecornu following their meeting in Paris on Thursday. Photo: AFP

A protester holds a placard which reads “Lecornu, not welcome” in French in Strasbourg, France, on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

UK and France must end dependency on US and China, Macron says

French President Emmanuel Macron addresses the UK parliament in the Palace of Westminster. Photo: Reuters

Britain’s King Charles and French President Emmanuel Macron travel in a horse-drawn carriage to Windsor Castle. Photo: Reuters

French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Photo: EPA

French President Emmanuel Macron addresses parliament in the Palace of Westminster. Photo: AP

News

World

Europe

France’s president is under increasing pressure after the shock resignation of Sebastien Lecornu this week, as former allies turn against him


France’s president is under increasing pressure after the shock resignation of Sebastien Lecornu this week, as former allies turn against him.
