"Emmanuel Macron has become a lame duck - a president who, while remaining in office, has lost the ability to enforce his policies," wrote the British daily The Times.According to The Times, Macron has only three options after the latest events: appoint a new prime minister, dissolve parliament, or resign himself.
The political crisis in Paris has deepened after Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu resigns just 27 days after taking office - the shortest tenure in the history of the Fifth Republic. His resignation followed a wave of criticism over the composition of his cabinet, which included 13 of the 18 ministers left over from the previous government. The most resonant was the appointment of a former finance minister Bruna Le Maira to head the defence ministry, which is blamed by many for France's economic woes.
According to Reuters, after Lecornu's departure, Macron instructed the outgoing prime minister to hold talks with political parties for another 48 hours to try to find a "minimum stability platform". The Elysee Palace is thus trying to delay the need for early elections, which could further weaken the President's position.
Opposition calls for dissolution of parliament
"We've reached the end of the road," said the head of the National Association Marine Le Pen in an interview with BFMTV. "The only sensible decision is to open the polls again." The same opinion is shared by the President of the RN Jordan Bardellaaccording to which "it is impossible to restore stability without dissolving the National Assembly".
Le Pen and other opposition figures say Macron has lost legitimacy and is "a president without a parliament" - a significantly weakened leader amid unpopular economic reforms, rising inflation and tensions over migration policy.
Macron's power is crumbling
"Macron has nowhere to retreat to," summarises The Guardian. This is the third cabinet collapse in a single year after the failed governments of Michel Barnier and François Bayrou. Each of the prime ministers tried to form a majority in the fractured parliament that emerged after the 2024 election, but without success.
Financial markets reacted immediately: the CAC 40 index in Paris fell by two percent and the euro weakened against the dollar.
The political background to the crisis
The current situation is rooted in the 2024 electoral stalemate, when Macron's centrist coalition lost its majority and had to rely on unstable agreements. Since then, the Elysee Palace has been drowning in rotating prime ministers and failed attempts at compromise.
As The Times columnist summarised: "Macron's problem is not a lack of energy, but that he is running alone - and no one wants to keep up with him anymore."
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