French PM Sebastien Lecornu resigns hours after announcing Cabinet

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu on Monday resigned just hours after he unveiled his Cabinet.

With the resignation, President Emmanuel Macron will now be on the lookout for his fifth prime minister in just over a year.

Macron had appointed Lecornu as the Prime Minister of France last month after his predecessor, Francois Bayrou, was ousted in a trust vote.

Lecornu will address the nation at 10:45 am local time (2:15 pm India time).

After Lecornu’s resignation, far-right National Rally (RN) leader Jordan Bardella, who is the party’s de facto prime ministerial face, called upon on Macron to dissolve the National Assembly and call elections or resign.

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For more than a year, France has been in the grips of a political crisis as prime ministers have run minority governments as no party or coalition has had a parliamentary majority. While parties supported Bayrou, and his predecessor Michel Barnier, on case-by-case basis, both of them were ousted in trust votes after parties refused to support their budget proposals.

With the resignation, Lecornu became the shortest-serving prime minister at just 27 days, as per France 24.

Moreover, at 26 days, Lecornu spent the longest time without a functional government. He resigned within 12 hours of naming his Cabinet.

All-round outrage at Lecornu’s Cabinet picks

While the reasons for Lecornu’s shock resignation are not immediately clear, it could be related to his Cabinet picks. As soon as he unveiled his Cabinet, there was criticism across the spectrum as it was similar to the previous one as many ministers were retained.

As many as 11 ministers retained their portfolios, including Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau and Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, and some former ministers were also inducted like defense minister Bruno Le Maire, according to France 24.

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RN leader Bardella had immediately threatened to bring a vote of no confidence against Lecornu’s government. He said Cabinet picks were “pathetic” and made it clear that the prime minister had to bring a “break” from the past or face a vote of no confidence.

The Cabinet was “decidedly all about continuity and absolutely nothing about breaking with the past that the French people are expecting”, said Bardella.

Separately, Socialist party leader Olivier Faure said the Cabinet was such that he could not stop the party from voting against the government.

“At this current moment in time, I cannot see how the socialist party would not be in a position to vote against the government…The prevailing sentiment is one of dismay…The reality is that we are witnessing an unprecedented political crisis,” said Faure.