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France’s PM resigns after less than a month amid widespread criticism of new cabinet

Sébastien Lecornu quits, blaming political “egos”, after Emmanuel Macron unveiled largely unchanged cabinet lineup

© Stephane Mahe, Reuters

© Stephane Mahe, Reuters

France’s political crisis has deepened after the new prime minister dramatically resigned within hours of appointing a government.

Sébastien Lecornu was the third French prime minister in a year, as the country continued to lurch from one political crisis to another. He quit hours before his first cabinet meeting on Monday afternoon. Macron accepted Lecornu’s resignation on Monday morning.

Lecornu then made what he called a “spontaneous” speech on the steps of the prime minister’s residence in Paris. He appeared to place the blame on opposition political parties in France, who he said had not wanted to compromise.

Criticizing political “egos”, he said parties continued to behave with “partisan appetites” as if they all had an absolute majority in parliament, when in fact none has a majority.

Lecornu had faced furious criticism from opposition politicians when he announced a new government that was virtually unchanged since last month’s ousting of his predecessor, François Bayrou.

The proposed new government was dominated by President Emmanuel Macron’s allies, leaving the government almost unchanged.

Opposition parties said Lecornu had backtracked on the “profound break” with past politics that he had promised when he took over from the unpopular Bayrou, who was ousted on 9 September over a proposed budget squeeze.

In his address outside Matignon, Lecornu insisted that his promise not to use article 49.3 of the constitution to bypass parliament – which had previously been used to push through legislation without a parliament vote – did represent a major break with recent years and was significant enough for opposition politicians to have backed him.

The question now is whether the president will decide to dissolve parliament and call another snap election.

Jordan Bardella, the president of Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party, said: “There cannot be a return to stability without a return to the ballot box and the national assembly being dissolved.

“It was very clearly Emmanuel Macron who decided this government himself. He has understood nothing of the political situation we are in.”

The National Rally has pushed for another election, believing they can increase their seats and presence in parliament.

France has gone through a period of instability and political crisis since the centrist Macron called an inconclusive snap election last year. The parliament remains divided between the three blocs: the left, the far right and the centre, with no clear majority.

A budget for next year must be agreed within weeks, even though political parties are at loggerheads and Lecornu’s tenure ended in less than a month.

Parties from the left to far right were to hold meetings on Monday to decide whether or not to vote to oust Lecornu in a no-confidence vote, and it appeared that the government would collapse before it had even started work. Lecornu apparently decided to leave before he could be ousted.

Most of the big government posts announced on Sunday night remained the same, including Gérald Darmanin as justice minister and Rachida Dati as culture minister.

The role of economy minister, which is crucial as a divided parliament struggles to agree on a budget, went to Roland Lescure, a Macron ally who had previously served as industry and energy minister at the start of Macron’s second term.

In a surprise move, Bruno Le Maire, a Macron ally who had served as economy minister for seven years of his presidency, returned to government as defence minister. This enraged politicians across the spectrum, who saw it as a sign that there would be no questioning or change of Macron’s pro-business stance.
 

Author: Dave Dave

Source: The Guardian

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