PARIS — President Emmanuel Macron seems to be getting nearer to naming Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu as France’s next prime minister.
Macron’s office was game-planning the Lecornu option Monday evening amid the collapse of current Prime Minister François Bayrou’s government over plans to shave next year’s budget by €43.8 billion, according to two officials with direct knowledge of the matter.
The president’s office said Monday that Bayrou’s successor would be named in the coming days as France faces the twin threats of a national shutdown on Sept. 10 and major protests planned by trade unions on Sept. 18.
While Lecornu, an early Macron ally who has survived several government reshuffles, has been mooted as a prime ministerial candidate, one of the minister’s allies told POLITICO the chances of success appear improved this time around, with the caveat that nothing is done until it’s done.
Lecornu was reportedly hitting the phones over the weekend to drum up support for his potential premiership. He has already started reaching out to potential ministerial candidates, according to two people with direct knowledge of the calls who, like others who spoke to POLITICO, were granted anonymity to discuss backroom negotiations.
The Lecornu option is serious enough that it’s being discussed in group chats between outgoing ministerial advisers, one such adviser said.
With the end of his term fast approaching, Macron also appears to be favoring Lecornu because he wants a “choice from the heart” for his next prime minister, one of the two individuals close to the president said. The next presidential election is set for 2027, and Macron cannot run due to term limits.
But Lecornu — or whoever takes the premiership — will face the same hurdles that doomed Bayrou, who is set to hand in his resignation Tuesday morning, and fellow former PM Michel Barnier.
The scale of Bayrou’s defeat in parliament on Monday — 364 lawmakers voted to oust him and just 194 came out in support — and the signals emerging from lawmakers suggest a rocky road ahead.
While Macron is pushing for moderate parties to find a way to work together, consolidating a middle ground is difficult because the center-left Socialists and conservative Les Républicains disagree fundamentally on how to solve the biggest issue at hand. That is, passing a budget for 2026 that reins in runaway public spending and allays financial markets without hindering economic growth or hitting the middle class too hard.
The Socialists’ parliamentary leader, Boris Vallaud, on Monday called on Macron to name a prime minister from his ranks. Party chief Olivier Faure on Tuesday declined to say whether his troops would stand ready to immediately vote down Lecornu.
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