French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday reappointed Sébastien Lecornu as prime minister and tasked him with forming a new government, in a high-stakes bid to end weeks of political crisis and pass a crucial budget for 2026.
The move came just days after Lecornu resigned, a mere 14 hours after his first government was announced, making it the shortest in the country’s history. He had cited at the time that “the conditions were no longer right” to continue.
Macron’s decision signals a hope that Lecornu can now muster enough support in a deeply divided parliament to overcome the legislative paralysis that has gripped the country.
“President Macron has appointed Lecornu as prime minister and tasked him with forming a government,” the Elysée Palace said in a brief statement, which followed what French newspaper Le Monde described as long and complex negotiations. Sources close to the president said Macron had given Lecornu “full powers” to assemble a team capable of breaking the impasse.
‘A sense of duty’
In his first comments after being reappointed, Lecornu wrote on the social media platform X: “It is with a sense of duty that I accept the mission entrusted to me by the President of the Republic to do everything possible to provide France with a budget by the end of the year and to address the daily life issues of our citizens.”
He acknowledged the need to draw lessons from the past weeks, stating that “all issues raised during the consultations in recent days will be subject to parliamentary debate, and deputies and senators will have to assume their responsibilities.”
Lecornu also stressed that fiscal consolidation remains a priority and called on those who join the new government to “commit to refraining from presidential ambitions for 2027.”
The reappointment followed a critical meeting at the Elysée Palace between Macron and the leaders of France’s main political parties. Left-wing party leaders said Macron had told them he did not intend to appoint a prime minister from the left, despite their view that the post was rightfully theirs after lawmakers had twice rejected Macron’s previous centrist nominees over planned spending cuts.
Macron offered to postpone a controversial pension reform until after the 2027 presidential election, but left-wing leaders said this was not enough.
Reflecting the fragile political situation, the Socialist Party announced it would “offer no guarantee of not voting a motion of no confidence” against the new government. “We are not seeking to dissolve parliament, but we are not afraid of it,” said Socialist leader Olivier Faure.
The reaction from the far-right was scathing. Jordan Bardella, leader of the National Rally party, called the second Lecornu government “a bad joke, a democratic disgrace, and an insult to the French people.” He said his party would “naturally be quick to table a motion of no confidence against this government combination.”
Lecornu’s budget challenge
Lecornu now faces a race against time. He must present a draft 2026 budget bill by Monday, first to the cabinet and then to parliament, meaning he has just days to appoint at least his finance, budget, and social security ministers.
While he has not revealed specifics, Lecornu said after his resignation that the budget deficit should be reduced to between 4.7% and 5% of GDP next year. He ruled out a wealth tax demanded by the left but promised to raise taxes on the wealthy by reducing tax optimisation strategies.
If he is not immediately toppled by a no-confidence vote, the budget bill is almost certain to undergo significant amendments in the National Assembly, where no party holds a clear majority. Lecornu has pledged not to use special constitutional powers to bypass parliament, a move that would almost certainly trigger his ousting.
If he is brought down, as his opponents have vowed, parliament would have to pass temporary emergency legislation to authorise spending, taxes, and borrowing from 1 January until a full budget can be adopted. France resorted to such measures last December after the government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier was ousted, scrapping the 2025 budget he had presented.
