With Keir Starmer facing his own political crises, you’d be forgiven for not noticing that France’s prime minister resigned last week. You’d be forgiven for not noticing that this week, that same man is again prime minister. Money, what to spend it on and, most importantly, how to spend less of it is as usual the culprit.
Why did the government dissolve?
Sebastien Lecornu, of the centre right party Les Républicains, was named France’s fifth PM in only two years in September. He replaced Michel Bayrou, who received a vote of no confidence from Parliament having proposed a fleet of cash saving measures aimed at reducing France’s public debt. One of these was to scrap two bank holidays.
On October 5, Lecornu named his government. No-one was happy. Left wing parties were far from pleased with the new government’s resemblance to the outgoing one. They fear the sorts of austerity measures proposed by previous PMs.
The centre right were as displeased. Lecornu’s own party, les Républicains, had wanted nine députés (MPs). However, they only got four.
Faced with the embarrassment of the four troublesome Républicains resigning, he folded the government and resigned. They hadn’t even had their first meeting, planned for that afternoon.
Why is the man who resigned still prime minister?
Macron managed to convince Lecornu that he was the best man to find a way of the political deadlock.
On Sunday night, Lecornu announced the new government, named “Lecornu 2” by the French media.
Six Républicains are there. Though, since Sunday the Républicains have announced that the six ministers who chose to participate in the government have been swiftly stripped of their party membership.
Lecornu labelled his new government to be “in the interest of the country”. Many of the 34 ministers are not politicians (as is permitted by the French constitution, a big difference between France and the UK). The minister for work is the ex CEO of SNCF, France’s principal train operator.
The hard left and hard right are still not happy. One députée for hard left La France Insoumise warned the new government not to burst the bottles open too quickly and that a vote of no confidence would be coming shortly.
What now?
With most parties on the left and the right having condemned the new government, it’s the socialist party who have the biggest chance at saving the government from collapse.
One of the Socialist Party’s key demands is a suspension of the pension reforms first put into motion in 2023. On Tuesday, Lecornu proposed their suspension until 2027.
However, he added that the expense of delaying pension reforms would need to be compensated for with savings in other areas. When the Bayrou government announced its raft of saving plans over Summer, people turned to the streets as part of the “bloquons tout” (block everything) movement.
La France Insoumise and hard right La Rassemblement Nationale have already launched motions of censure. Macron has said that he won’t name a new PM if Lecornu 2 fails. That would mean the dissolution of parliament and a new election. The last one was held in summer 2024.
Lecornu has said that he won’t do “n’importe quoi” (any old rubbish) to get a budget through. But he might have to if he wants to avoid more political instability. In any case, they’ve got until the end of this year to agree on a budget.
Featured Image Credit: GautierGadriot via Wikimedia
