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president of france Emmanuel Macron Sebastien Lecornu has been reappointed as the country’s Prime Minister, just days after offering his resignation.
Mr Lecornu’s reappointment came after several days of intense negotiations and less than a week after he resigned amid infighting in his newly named government.
As France Faced with growing economic challenges and rising debt, Macron has asked Lecornu to make renewed efforts to form a government and budget to end the country’s political impasse.
The appointment is widely seen as the president’s last chance to consolidate on his second term, which will run until 2027.
Lacking a majority in the National Assembly to advance his agenda, Mr Macron is facing growing criticism – including from within his own ranks – and has little room to manoeuvre.
Mr Macron’s office issued a one-sentence statement announcing the appointment, a month after the statement that Mr Lecornu was initially named and four days after he resigned.
Mr Lecornu said in a statement on social networks that he accepted the new job offer out of “duty”.
He said he was given the mission to “deliver a budget to France by the end of the year and do everything to respond to the daily problems of our compatriots”.
Mr Lecornu said all those joining his new government would have to abandon ambitions to run for president in 2027, adding that the new Cabinet would “embodiment renewal and diversity of skills”.
He said: “We must end this political crisis that haunts the French and this destabilization that is bad for France’s image and its interests.”
Mr Lecornu resigned suddenly on Monday, hours after unveiling a new Cabinet that was opposed by a key coalition partner.
The shock resignation prompted Mr Macron to step down or dissolve Parliament again. But they remained unanswered, with the president instead announcing on Wednesday that he would name Mr Lecornu’s successor within 48 hours.
Political party leaders, who met with Mr Macron for more than two hours at his request, walked out of the conversation on Friday saying they were not sure what next step the French leader would take.
Some warned that another prime minister chosen from Mr Macron’s fragile centrist camp would risk being rejected by the powerful lower house of parliament, prolonging the crisis.
“How can anyone expect it to all work out for the best?” said Marine Tondelier, leader of The Ecologist Party. “We get the impression that the more lonely he gets, the more hardened he becomes.”
Over the past year, Mr Macron’s successive minority governments have fallen sharply, plunging the EU’s second-largest economy into political paralysis as France faces a debt crisis.
At the end of the first quarter of 2025, France’s public debt stood at 3.346 trillion euros, or 114 percent of GDP.
France’s poverty rate is also projected to reach 15.4 percent in 2023, its highest level since records began in 1996, according to the latest data available from the National Institute of Statistics.
The economic and political conflicts are worrying financial markets, ratings agencies and the European Commission, which is pressuring France to comply with EU rules limiting debt.
The two largest opposition parties in the National Assembly – the far-right National Rally and the far-left France Unbiased party – were not invited to the discussion on Friday. The National Rally wants Mr Macron to call fresh legislative elections and France Unbowed wants him to resign.
Mr Lecornu argued earlier this week that Mr Macron’s centrist faction, its allies and parts of the opposition could still come together to form a functioning government.
“There is a majority that can rule,” he said. “I think the path is still possible. It’s just tough.”
Mr Lecornu will now have to compromise to avoid an immediate vote of no confidence and may even be forced to abandon a hugely unpopular pension reform that was one of the signature policies of Mr Macron’s second presidential term.
The retirement age was gradually raised from 62 to 64 in 2023, without a vote, despite massive protests. Opposition parties want it to be abolished.
The political impasse stems from Mr Macron’s shock decision to dissolve the National Assembly in June 2024. Snap elections produced a hung parliament, with no one able to win a majority in the 577-seat house.
The standoff has discouraged investors, angered voters and hampered efforts to curb France’s growing deficit and public debt.
Without stable support, Mr Macron’s governments have lurched from one crisis to another and collapsed after seeking support for unpopular spending cuts.
Mr Lecornu’s resignation just 14 hours after announcing his Cabinet underlines the weakness of the president’s coalition amid deep political and personal rivalries.