Caught in a maelstrom of political paralysis, financial woes and social unrest, President Emmanuel Macron of France has turned to one of his most trusted allies to be his new prime minister: Sébastien Lecornu.
Mr. Lecornu, who was appointed by Mr. Macron on Tuesday a little more than 24 hours after the previous government collapsed, has been at the French leader’s side for the entirety of his presidency. He is the only minister to have been in every cabinet since Mr. Macron was first elected in 2017.
Now, though, Mr. Lecornu, 39, must prove that his proximity to Mr. Macron — whose already-low popularity has reached new depths — will not become a liability in a role that exposes him to France’s weary electorate far more than previously.
“He was a good minister because he had the president’s ear,” said Cédric Perrin, a senator from eastern France who presides over the Senate’s foreign affairs and armed forces committee.
“You don’t want that advantage to turn into a drawback,” he added. Though to the president’s critics, it is already. They credited the choice of Mr. Lecornu with helping to fuel angry protests across the country on Wednesday.
In a short speech before he took office, Mr. Lecornu acknowledged the challenges ahead. He must get a budget passed through the lower house of Parliament by the end of the year, even though it remains bitterly divided on how to address the country’s financial troubles.
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