French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu faces a race against time to form a government by Monday's budget deadline, as divisions emerged within the conservative Les Republicains party over whether to accept ministerial posts in his cabinet.
Just two days after being reappointed, Lecornu must present a draft budget bill to cabinet and parliament on Monday, requiring key ministerial positions to be filled immediately during France's deepest political crisis in decades.
The LR party's governing body said on Saturday that "the trust and conditions are not in place" to join Lecornu's government, yet a majority of the party's lower house members favour taking cabinet positions to influence the budget, according to Le Monde newspaper.
PENSION REFORM A RED LINE FOR LEFT AND RIGHT
Former Prime Minister Michel Barnier, a prominent LR figure and member of the lower house, laid out strict conditions for potential participation of his party in the government, including maintaining President Emmanuel Macron's controversial pension reform that raised the retirement age to 64.
"Our support must remain demanding and faithful to the battles we are waging for the French," Barnier wrote on X on Saturday, listing deficit reduction, pension reform maintenance, security measures and business competitiveness as non-negotiable conditions.
Centrist party UDI said it would support the new government but ruled out taking part in it, while Horizons, a close ally of Macron’s party in parliament, said it would not join a cabinet that backed suspending the pension reform.
PM MUST COME UP WITH BUDGET PLAN TO REDUCE DEFICIT
Lecornu signalled potential flexibility on this issue on Saturday, saying "all debates are possible as long as they are realistic" when asked about suspending the pension reform.
The prime minister must navigate these contradictory demands while assembling a cabinet capable of presenting a credible budget plan to reduce France's deficit from 5.4% of GDP this year to between 4.7% and 5% next year.
"I am setting myself a fairly clear mission, and then either the political forces will help me and we will work together to achieve it, or they will not," Lecornu said on Saturday.
Lecornu has pledged a cabinet of "renewal and diversity" but has yet to announce any appointments with barely 24 hours remaining before the constitutional deadline.
The Philippines and China accused each other on 12 October of responsibility for a maritime confrontation near disputed islands in the South China Sea...
Madagascar's presidency said on Sunday that "an attempted illegal and forcible seizure of power" was underway in the African nation, without providing...
French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu faces a race against time to form a government by Monday's budget deadline, as divisions emerged within the co...
Portuguese voters are heading to the polls on Sunday in local elections that could reshape the country’s political landscape....
China says it is ready to develop its relationship with North Korea to strengthen strategic cooperation in international and regional affairs, North K...
When Sebastien Lecornu gave his first prime-time television interview just hours after resigning as France’s prime minister on Wednesday, he described himself as a “soldier monk” — a man of duty ready to return to service if President Emmanuel Macron called him back to the front line.
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.
A French court on Thursday rejected the appeal of a former construction worker found guilty last year of the aggravated rape of Gisele Pelicot, and increased his prison sentence by a year to 10 years, his lawyer said.
French President Emmanuel Macron will appoint a new prime minister within 48 hours, his office said Wednesday, following the resignation of Sebastien Lecornu amid political deadlock.
Video from the USGS (United States Geological Survey) showed on Friday (19 September) the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii erupting and spewing lava.
At least 69 people have died and almost 150 injured following a powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Cebu City in the central Visayas region of the Philippines, officials said, making it one of the country’s deadliest disasters this year.
Authorities in California have identified the dismembered body discovered in a Tesla registered to singer D4vd as 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who had been missing from Lake Elsinore since April 2024.
A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on 13 September with no tsunami threat, coming just weeks after the region endured a devastating 8.8-magnitude quake — the strongest since 1952.
A shooting in Nice, southeastern France, left two people dead and five injured on Friday, authorities said.
The Philippines and China accused each other on 12 October of responsibility for a maritime confrontation near disputed islands in the South China Sea, further escalating tensions in the resource-rich waterway.
Madagascar's presidency said on Sunday that "an attempted illegal and forcible seizure of power" was underway in the African nation, without providing details, a day after some soldiers joined a protest movement that had begun last month.
Portuguese voters are heading to the polls on Sunday in local elections that could reshape the country’s political landscape.
China says it is ready to develop its relationship with North Korea to strengthen strategic cooperation in international and regional affairs, North Korea's state media KCNA reported.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief: here are the top news stories for 12 October, covering the latest developments you need to know.
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