Macron Reappoints Sebastien Lecornu as France's PM Four Days After Resignation

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - In an extraordinary and politically audacious gamble, French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday reappointed Sebastien Lecornu as prime minister, just four days after Lecornu had dramatically resigned from the same post, plunging the nation into a deeper state of political turmoil.

The decision to bring back the 39-year-old Macron loyalist, rather than appointing a fresh face to break the months-long parliamentary deadlock, was met with immediate and widespread indignation from across the political spectrum, with the opposition decrying the move as a "bad joke" and vowing to immediately seek to topple the newly re-formed government.

The reappointment represents a high-stakes bet by a president facing the worst domestic crisis of his tenure, a bet that the very man who declared the conditions for governing did not exist can somehow, in a matter of days, find a path out of the paralysis that has gripped the French state.

"The president of the republic has nominated Mr Sebastien Lecornu as prime minister and has tasked him with forming a government," the Elysee Palace announced in a statement on Friday, as reported by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The reappointment came as a shock to a political establishment that had been anticipating a significant government reshuffle. Lecornu himself, in a post on the social media platform X, framed his acceptance of the mission as a matter of patriotic obligation.

"We must end the political crisis," he wrote, stating that he had accepted the post "out of duty." He pledged to do "everything possible" to give France a budget by the end of the year and added that restoring the nation's public finances remained "a priority for our future."

This entire crisis is rooted in the parliamentary deadlock that has defined French politics since President Macron's ill-fated decision to call snap elections last year.

That gamble, intended to consolidate his power, instead backfired spectacularly, resulting in a hung parliament and significant gains for the far-right National Rally, leaving Macron's centrist bloc as a minority and rendering the country virtually ungovernable.

The immediate flashpoint of this paralysis has been the government's deeply unpopular austerity budget, a plan designed to tackle France's record-high public debt. The French parliament has already toppled Lecornu's two immediate predecessors, François Bayrou and Michel Barnier, in a bitter standoff over these cost-cutting measures.

It was this same seemingly intractable reality that led to Lecornu's own stunning resignation on Monday.

As previously reported by Kurdistan24, just hours after unveiling a largely unchanged cabinet on Sunday, Lecornu submitted his resignation, becoming the most short-lived prime minister in the history of the Fifth Republic. 

"One cannot be prime minister when the conditions are not met," he had declared in a stark admission of failure. His resignation triggered a chorus of demands for President Macron to either dissolve the National Assembly or resign himself.

Now, just four days later, Macron has chosen a third, and arguably more perilous, path: doubling down on his chosen prime minister. After his resignation, Lecornu agreed to stay on for two extra days to conduct talks with all political parties in a last-ditch effort to find a compromise.

By Wednesday evening, he was telling French television that he believed a revised draft budget for 2026 could be put forward by Monday, a timeline that would meet the crucial deadline for its approval by the end of the year. It appears that these behind-the-scenes negotiations, however fragile, have provided President Macron with enough of a pretext to attempt this unprecedented reappointment.

The reaction from the opposition, however, suggests that any hope for a new spirit of compromise is already dead on arrival. Far-right National Rally leader Jordan Bardella, as quoted by AFP, immediately dismissed the reappointment as a "bad joke" and pledged to seek a vote of no confidence to oust the new cabinet at the earliest opportunity.

A spokesman for the hard-left decried Lecornu's return as a huge "two fingers to the French people." Even the more moderate Socialists, a potential swing group in parliament, made it clear that their support was not forthcoming.

They stated that they had "no deal" with Lecornu and would vote to oust his government if he did not agree to suspend a controversial 2023 pension reform that had raised the retirement age from 62 to 64.

The crisis has also exposed deep fissures within Macron's own broader political family. In an unprecedented move earlier this week, former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, a one-time ally of Macron and a potential contender in the 2027 presidential elections, publicly suggested that the president himself should step down once a budget was passed.

President Macron, who is facing the worst domestic crisis since he first took office in 2017, has yet to address the public directly, but has consistently insisted that he will serve out the remainder of his term.

As he re-embarks on the daunting task of forming a government, Lecornu appears to be signaling a shift in approach. He had suggested on Wednesday that his new cabinet should include more technocrats, a potential nod to the criticism that his initial list, which sparked the crisis, did not break enough with the past.

He also issued a stark warning on Friday to anyone considering a ministerial post, stating that they "must commit to setting aside presidential ambitions" for the 2027 elections, a clear attempt to enforce discipline and focus within his new team.

With President Macron having already served the maximum two terms, the political landscape is already being shaped by the upcoming 2027 presidential race. The far-right National Rally senses its best-ever chance of winning power.

While its three-time presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen, has been barred from running after a corruption conviction, her 30-year-old lieutenant, Jordan Bardella, is seen as a likely and formidable candidate.

The current chaos and paralysis in the French government are only likely to bolster the far-right's narrative and strengthen its appeal to a populace weary of political instability.

The reappointment of Sebastien Lecornu is a bold, perhaps desperate, move by a president with few good options left. Whether it proves to be a masterstroke that breaks the deadlock or a final, futile act that hastens the end of his political project remains to be seen.