Crunch moment in French crisis as outgoing PM tries to avert new election

Hours before his deadline for resolving France’s political crisis, outgoing Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said political parties have shown a “willingness” that could stave off the threat of new parliamentary elections.

Lecornu on Monday became the third French PM to leave his job in less than a year. He has until Wednesday evening to come up with a plan for the “stability of the country” and has held talks with several political parties.

Like his predecessors, Lecornu was unable to push through a budget to bring down the government’s deficit and tackle public debt.

Ahead of a second day of talks, Lecornu said he had detected a “willingness to have a budget for France before 31 December”.

“And this willingness creates movement and convergence, obviously, which makes the prospect of dissolution [of parliament] more remote,” he said in a statement in the courtyard of his Paris residence at the Hôtel Matignon.

The outgoing prime minister then began talks with Socialist leaders. He is due to go on French TV at 20:00 local time (18:00 GMT) to give details of whether he had found a solution.

His best hope appears to be some kind of political pact to prevent any new government being thrown out in a confidence vote.

Commentators and officials said Lecornu’s TV appearance meant it was unlikely President Emmanuel Macron would himself give an address.

Lecornu’s shock resignation on Monday left France in renewed political turmoil, 18 months before the end of Macron’s second term in office. Macron’s decision to call snap elections in mid-2024 left France with a hung parliament and a succession of minority governments.

Credit: bbc.com

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