France's Macron reappoints former prime minister Lecornu as PM

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday reappointed Sébastien Lecornu as prime minister, just days after his resignation, hoping the loyal ally can secure enough backing in a fractured parliament to pass the 2026 budget.

By reinstating Lecornu, 47-year-old Macron risks inflaming tensions with political opponents who insist that the only way out of France’s most severe political crisis in decades is to either call snap parliamentary elections or step down.

Lecornu’s immediate challenge will be to present a new budget to parliament by Monday evening.

“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 year’s end and to address the everyday concerns of our fellow citizens,” Lecornu wrote on X.

“We must bring an end to this political crisis that frustrates the French people and to the instability that damages France’s image and interests.”

Discontent among the left

Earlier in the day, Macron gathered mainstream party leaders in an effort to rally support for his choice. Left-wing leaders reacted angrily to his decision not to appoint someone from their camp, signalling that the new government may prove as fragile as its predecessors.

Another government collapse could push Macron towards calling early elections — a move widely viewed as benefiting the far right.

“We’re not calling for the dissolution of parliament, but we’re not afraid of it either,” Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure told reporters after the meeting.

Political crisis weighs on economy

France’s political upheaval — which has hurt growth and unsettled financial markets — stems largely from Macron’s decision last year to hold legislative elections. The gamble resulted in a hung parliament split into three rival ideological blocs.

Efforts to repair public finances, requiring spending cuts or tax increases that no side can agree upon, have deepened the deadlock, while positioning by politicians eyeing the 2027 presidential race has further complicated matters.

If lawmakers fail to agree on a budget within the allotted time, the government may have to resort to emergency legislation to keep the country running on a temporary roll-over budget.

Macron excluded both Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally (RN) and the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) from his talks with party chiefs.

RN president Jordan Bardella accused Macron of prioritising his political survival over the public interest.

“The RN is proud not to have been invited. We are not for sale to Macron’s entourage,” Bardella wrote on X.

Race to finalise the budget

France’s central bank governor, François Villeroy de Galhau, warned on Friday that political uncertainty could shave 0.2 percentage points off GDP, noting that business sentiment had weakened even as the broader economy remained stable.

“Uncertainty is the number one enemy of growth,” he told RTL radio.

Prolonged wrangling over fiscal policy — as France tries to curb its deficit and stabilise public finances — has already cost Macron three prime ministers in less than a year.

At the heart of the dispute are left-wing calls to overturn Macron’s 2023 pension reforms, which raised the retirement age, and to increase taxes on the wealthy — proposals resisted by conservatives whose support is crucial for passing the budget.

During the meeting, Macron reportedly offered to postpone the full implementation of the retirement age hike to 2028, but Green Party leader Marine Tondelier said the concession was inadequate.

Villeroy urged that the deficit should not exceed 4.8% of GDP in 2026. It is projected to reach 5.4% this year, nearly double the European Union’s ceiling.

Macron’s previous prime minister, François Bayrou, was ousted by parliament after proposing €44 billion in spending cuts to bring the deficit down to 4.6% of GDP.

Copied