PARIS – A month after his appointment, Sébastien Lecornu unveiled on Sunday night a big a part of his authorities, which bears a hanging resemblance to that of his predecessor, François Bayrou. Enough to antagonise the opposition forward of the Prime Minister’s first deal with, scheduled for Tuesday afternoon within the National Assembly.
Many heavyweights from the earlier crew have been retained.
In order of protocol, the Minister of Education, Élisabeth Borne, stays in her put up, as does Manuel Valls at Overseas France.
The staunchly right-wing President of Les Républicains (LR), Bruno Retailleau, additionally retains the Interior Ministry, Gérald Darmanin the Ministry of Justice, Annie Genevard Agriculture, Catherine Vautrin the Ministry of Labour, and Jean-Noël Barrot the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs.
The Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, who is due to face trial for corruption and affect peddling subsequent September, additionally stays in workplace.
Among the brand new arrivals, Macron ally Roland Lescure has been appointed Minister for the Economy, and can face the heavy activity of negotiating the 2026 funds.
The most controversial appointment is undoubtedly that of former Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire on the Ministry of the Armed Forces. Having served from 2017 to 2024, he had been accused of plunging France’s public funds deep into deficit. Le Maire had beforehand introduced his withdrawal from political life.
This first listing, which is predicted to be accomplished within the coming days, has, as anticipated, been sharply criticised by opposition events. The president of the far-right Rassemblement National (RN), Jordan Bardella, deplored a authorities that “has all of the hallmarks of continuity”, as soon as once more threatening to desk an instantaneous movement of no confidence in opposition to the brand new govt.
“All that for this?” quipped Jean-Luc Mélenchon, chief of the left-wing celebration La France Insoumise (LFI). “Elections for nothing, two censures for nothing? It gained’t maintain,” he added.
A authorities coalition as fragile as ever
During the evening from Saturday to Sunday, the Prime Minister despatched a “authorities roadmap” to centrist and right-wing events – Renaissance, LR, Modem, Horizons and the Union of Democrats and Independents – in an try to consolidate the delicate coalition on which his predecessors Michel Barnier and François Bayrou had already relied.
Lecornu admitted that he solely commanded “a really relative majority” and urged his allies to “make compromises with different political forces”. Together, the events of the so-called “central bloc” can muster solely 210 deputies out of the 577 within the Assembly, leaving them beneath fixed menace of being toppled as soon as once more.
The Prime Minister additionally outlined the primary priorities of his coverage, with the foremost being to “equip France with a funds for the 12 months 2026, to make sure the nation’s stability”. He plans to make financial savings “primarily” by way of a discount in public spending, whereas additionally pledging to answer the “demand for fiscal equity” expressed by French residents.
In a bid to keep away from censure, Lecornu had additionally promised earlier than the weekend to not invoke Article 49.3 of the Constitution – which permits laws to go with out a parliamentary vote – leaving members of the National Assembly free to amend his preliminary funds proposals.
This gesture, nonetheless, doesn’t seem to have satisfied Socialist Party (PS) chief Olivier Faure, who stated over the weekend that the nation was “heading straight for a censure” if the Prime Minister continued in presenting a “copy-and-paste” of Bayrou’s funds. The latter was toppled in early September after pushing by way of €44 billion in spending cuts to deliver the deficit all the way down to 4.6% by 2026.
(ow)
