Erika Malandra Paris woke up stunned, a surprise perhaps a little bitter… Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, 38 years old, a young but already experienced face of French politics, presented his resignation to Emmanuel Macron. And the president accepted them. Without hesitation. The news, confirmed by the Elysée Palace in the early hours of the morning and recovery da Le Monde e France Info, has caused the fragile balance that had been built over weeks of negotiations to collapse in a few hours.
The Lecornu government dies before it is even truly born.
Prime Minister Lecornu resigns: a government already in tatters?
Only yesterday, the presidency had released the list of 18 ministers. A team defined as "continuity," almost a copy-and-paste of the previous executive. Twelve absolutely familiar faces, including Jean-Noël Barrot for Foreign Affairs and Gérald Darmanin for Justice. Despite everything, the promise was different: "a break, a new political season." This was stated by first minister Lecornu in his first interview with TF1, the day after the nomination. But that break, evidently, never came.
Bruno Retailleau, leader of the Republicans and reappointed to the Interior Ministry, used severe tones: "This executive does not reflect the change that France was waiting for." A dry statement, reported by Le Figaro, which immediately sparked tensions within the majority. His party called an emergency meeting. Some right-wing parliamentarians are threatening to leave the coalition. All this less than 24 hours before the first Cabinet meeting.
A sense of déjà vu? Third government in a year, fifth since the beginning of the Macron era. And each time, the same scene: appointments, brief enthusiasm, then crisis. This time, however, the context is more fragile. Public finances are stretched thin, debt at 115% of GDP. A France that looks to Brussels with bated breath, and an increasingly disillusioned public.
Macron accepts Prime Minister Lecornu's resignation: what happened?
When the announcement of the resignation He arrived, Emmanuel Macron had already returned to the Elysée. He received Lecornu in the evening, a meeting described as "cordial but inevitable" by a source close to the palace, quoted by France InterThere was no real surprise, sources say; the prime minister had already confided his discomfort on Sunday, after a fiery weekend of meetings and media talk of a "ghost government."
Lecornu's political project—that of "mending a divided France"—dissolved before Tuesday's general policy speech. A speech that will never take place. Neither he nor his ministers will be able to defend the 2026 budget, the objective that should have marked his first real test. "He was exhausted, a prisoner of a system that didn't really want to change," an advisor confided to theAFP.
The political scene today is a minefield. After the dissolution of the Assembly in June 2024, the country is caught between three blocs: the fragmented left, the Macron-led center, and the radical right. None have a majority. And now, without a prime minister, the risk of total stalemate is complete.
Reactions were not long in coming. Boris Vallaud, a socialist, spoke of the "failure of Macronia." Marine Le Pen, in an interview with CNews, he harshly attacked: "Recalling Le Maire, the man who caused the economic disaster, was the ultimate mistake." He was referring to the most controversial appointment: that of Bruno Le Maire, the former Minister of Economy who was supposed to take over the leadership of the Armed Forces.
A move that many have interpreted as a sign of weakness rather than renewal. Now we just have to wait and see what happens...
President Macron must start from scratch... The Elysée, they say, "will initiate rapid consultations to identify a new figure to bring about unity." But what kind of unity is still possible? After five governments, a divided country, and a possibly record debt, the question remains unanswered, almost rhetorical.
And while the French turn on the radios, the commentators of France Bleu They're already talking about a "deep institutional crisis." The feeling is that this isn't just the end of the Lecornu government; it could be something more, some say, perhaps the end of a political cycle.