France with no PM again: what are Macron's options?
Just one day after announcing his cabinet, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu resigned on Monday, citing the parties' unwillingness to compromise. President Macron had only appointed Lecornu on 9 September. He was the third prime minister to be appointed since the National Assembly was dissolved and new elections were held in June 2024. Commentators react with increasing bafflement.
No politician would have succeeded here
In a Telegram post picked up by Echo, political scientist Alexei Makarkin explains the debacle, pointing to the incompatibility of the positions of the centrist parties:
“The prime minister failed to reach an agreement with the Socialists and form a government on a broad centrist basis that extended from the left to the right. And that's no coincidence, because a deal with the Socialists would have led to a break with the Republicans. ... The closer the presidential elections get, the more the parties are emphasising their identity with their voters in mind. What the centre-right considers 'madness' is the norm for the centre-left. It's not just Lecornu; no politician would have been able to reconcile the priorities of the Socialists and Republicans.”
The left should have a go at government
El País lists the options now:
“More isolated than ever, Emmanuel Macron faces a difficult dilemma: he can persist with his approach even if it exacerbates instability and thus the divide between the people and the political class. Or he can finally recognise the result of the elections he himself called and acknowledge that the left has the legitimacy to at least attempt to form a government. The third option is to dissolve parliament again, at the risk of strengthening the Rassemblement National, only to find himself in the same deadlock. This option is likely, given that he gave the resigning Lecornu 48 hours to attempt last-minute negotiations and declared that he would take responsibility himself if they failed.”
Back to the ballot box
It's time to face up to reality, Le Figaro demands:
“Rather than continuing the merry-go-round of ministerial posts, making pacts to avoid votes of no confidence or pursuing supposed 'paths' that promise government stability, we must face the facts: we have reached the end of an illusion that has been perpetuated since July 2024 - that of parties that lost the elections but nevertheless assume the right to govern with all the arrogance of overwhelming majorities. But we must not mistake who is to blame. ... This great confusion, this bewildering situation, brings us back to the one person who, by the grace of the Fifth Republic, bears as much power as responsibility: the president of the republic. Only he holds the key: a return to the ballot box.”
Warning signal from the financial markets
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung sees France's economic stability at risk:
“One can't avoid the impression that too many people in Paris are focusing on new elections instead of tackling the serious problems the country faces. These are well known and putting off dealing with them won't make them any easier to solve. The financial markets reminded the politicians of their budgetary problems on Monday. When the second-largest economy in the EU and the Eurozone is rated worse than Greece or Italy, that's a warning signal. ... During the euro crisis Europe learned that if push comes to shove the markets themselves will force reforms. It would be better to avoid this experience in Paris, also in the interests of its partners. ... France is scheduled to hold regular elections in 2027. It's hard to imagine that things can continue like this until then.”
A solitary president
Corriere della Sera describes how the French have grown to dislike their president:
“'I don't understand him anymore', said [former Prime Minister] Gabriel Attal. ... Like Attal, many who believed in Macron no longer understand him: they don't understand why he suddenly dissolved the National Assembly [in June 2024], why he appointed an elderly gentleman like Barnier as prime minister, then another elderly gentleman like Bayrou, and finally the young Lecornu, who, however, had the insurmountable flaw of being the last of Macron's loyalists at a time when everything associated with Macron is unpopular with the public and almost the entire political class.”