Out on Monday, back on Friday: Macron recycles French PM

London: French President Emmanuel Macron has made a dramatic move to stare down his rivals and impose his agenda on a fractured parliament by restoring a key ally to the prime minister’s job just four days after he quit.

Macron re-appointed Sébastien Lecornu as prime minister on Friday (Saturday AEDT) and asked him to form a new ministry, spurning demands from political rivals for new elections to resolve years of division in the national assembly.

The stunning twist ended hopes among the assembly’s left-wing parties for a new prime minister from among their own ranks, after they held talks with Macron on Friday in a bid to end disputes over new measures to reduce the budget deficit.

Lecornu, the nation’s fifth prime minister in two years, said earlier this week that he expected the president to name a new prime minister within 48 hours, and he appeared to leave no room to return to the post.

Highlighting the tumult in French politics, Lecornu returned on Friday night to a job he quit on Monday morning.

Lecornu said in a statement on social networks that he accepted the new job offer out of “duty.” He said he was given a mission “to do everything to give France a budget by the end of the year and respond to the daily problems of our compatriots”.

All those who join his new government will have to renounce ambitions to run for president in 2027, Lecornu said, adding that the new cabinet will “incarnate renewal and a diversity of skills”.

“We must put an end to this political crisis that exasperates the French and to this bad instability for France’s image and its interests.”

The appointment appears certain to infuriate the right-wing National Rally, led in parliament by Marine Le Pen, after it demanded an election and said it would oppose any budget deal from Macron or his allies.

Party leaders met Macron for talks on Friday but could not agree on major policies or a new prime minister.

Some of them cautioned that another prime minister picked from the ranks of Macron’s fragile centrist camp would risk being disavowed by parliament’s powerful lower house, prolonging the crisis.

“How can one expect that all this will end well?” said Marine Tondelier, leader of the Ecologists party. “The impression we get is that the more alone he is, the more rigid he becomes.”

Lecornu signalled some reluctance about returning to the post when he issued a statement online on Friday night in France (Saturday, AEDT).

“I accept – out of duty – the mission entrusted to me by the President of the Republic to do everything possible to provide France with a budget by the end of the year and to address the daily life issues of our fellow citizens,” he said in a statement.

“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.”

Lecornu set out four conditions for restoring stability in a new government, starting with a commitment to full parliamentary debate on the next steps, presumably including the budget.

The second condition highlighted the importance of a deal on the budget, which has been stymied in the assembly due to disputes over tax increases or spending cuts.

“Restoring our public finances remains a priority for our future and our sovereignty: no one will be able to evade this necessity,” he said.

A third condition was that all those who joined the government as ministers would have to renounce any ambitions to run for the presidency in 2027. This is likely to rule out any party leaders or other major figures who are jockeying for position to replace Macron, who is in his second term and cannot run again.

In his fourth condition, Lecornu said: “The new government team must embody renewal and diversity of skills.”

The proposals are a departure from the ministry that Lecornu named last Sunday, when he kept most of the faces from the previous ministry but allocated different portfolios. This ministry collapsed the next morning when he resigned.

The National Rally and its allied parties hold 138 seats in the National Assembly, making them the largest bloc, while the Ensemble coalition – loyal to Macron – has only 91 seats. France Unbowed holds 71 seats and the Socialists hold 66, while the Greens have 38.

French politics has become increasingly unstable since Macron’s re-election in 2022, which left the national assembly without any party or coalition with a majority.

His decision to call the snap parliamentary election last year deepened the crisis by producing an even more fragmented parliament.

“There can be no return to stability without a return to the polls and the dissolution of the National Assembly,” National Rally leader Jordan Bardella said after Lecornu resigned.

Socialist Party chief Olivier Faure offered to negotiate a compromise but wanted the next prime minister to be chosen from the left – an option Macron has rejected.

The Socialists want a 2 per cent wealth tax on France’s richest 0.01 per cent, a measure that appears to have strong public support but would force Macron to accept a policy that is deeply opposed by the conservatives.

With AP

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