French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday blamed opponents for political “chaos” as embattled French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu urged his new Cabinet ministers to put their egos aside for the sake of France.
France, the eurozone’s second-largest economy, is in a deep political crisis which has spooked markets, and raised concern about its minority government’s ability to govern and ease the nation’s debt burden.
Following an extraordinary week of political drama, which saw Lecornu resign on Monday last week, only to be reappointed by Macron on Friday last week, the 39-year-old prime minister urged his Cabinet to do everything to help France overcome the political crisis.
Photo: EPA
“I am counting on you to show the utmost restraint and humility,” Lecornu, the seventh prime minister of Macron’s mandate, told his Cabinet on Monday.
“Service is something that requires putting egos aside,” said Lecornu, who yesterday was to deliver a policy speech to a deeply divided parliament where he faces threats of censure.
Lecornu addressed the Cabinet following a low-key handover ceremony, which took place without journalists.
Macron’s perceived refusal to bring in new faces has enraged the opposition, with the hard-left France Unbowed party and far-right National Rally threatening to topple Lecornu’s new Cabinet, which was unveiled late on Sunday. Lecornu’s two immediate predecessors were ousted in a standoff over an austerity budget and his immediate task is to put together a budget plan for next year.
The new Cabinet was expected to present a draft budget yesterday that aims for a deficit below 5 percent of GDP, government spokesperson Maud Bregeon said.
The Cabinet must give parliament the constitutionally required 70 days to scrutinize the plan before the end of the year.
Macron has come under unprecedented pressure. Some opposition leaders are urging him to call snap elections or resign, and even key allies such as former French prime minister Edouard Philippe have distanced themselves from the 47-year-old president.
Macron sought to shift all responsibility for the turmoil to political rivals as he traveled to Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to attend a summit on ending the Gaza war and highlight his diplomatic credentials.
“The political forces that have instigated the destabilization of Sebastien Lecornu are solely responsible for this chaos,” he told reporters upon his arrival in Egypt.
“It is everyone’s duty to work towards stability,” Macron said. “Many of those who have fueled division and speculation have not risen to the moment.”
Political jockeying in France has been intensifying ahead of a 2027 presidential election.
Macron, who is enduring his worst-ever popularity levels, has vowed to serve out his second and final term.
Many opponents and political analysts blame the French president for the current gridlock. In the middle of last year, he called snap elections to stave off the march of the far right, but his gamble backfired. Macron’s centrist camp lost its majority, while parliament’s lower house, the National Assembly, is now divided into three distinct blocs.
French daily Le Monde in an editorial said that Macron was on dangerous ground.
“The head of state is taking the risk of turning this major political crisis into a lasting institutional deadlock, and thus into a crisis of the regime,” the newspaper said.
The leftist Socialists, a swing group, warned that they might also vote against the government unless Lecornu backs off from a controversial 2023 pension reform that raised the retirement age from 62 to 64.
The right-wing Republicans, once a key political ally of Macron, have said they would only cooperate on a “bill-by-bill” basis.
Macron on Monday declined to speculate on a possible dissolution of parliament in case of another government failure.
“I’m not making any bets,” he said. “I want the country to move forward.”
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