France’s Government Is Gone (Again). What Comes Next?

President Emmanuel Macron could appoint a new prime minister. But he is under increasing pressure to call new parliamentary elections.

What will President Emmanuel Macron do now?

That question was back on everybody’s lips in France this week after the surprising resignation of Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu and of his cabinet, less than 24 hours after its formation.

Mr. Lecornu, a close ally of Mr. Macron who was appointed barely a month ago, blamed France’s fractured political parties for failing to compromise on a budget that is badly needed to address the country’s surging debt and deficit.

His resignation leaves Mr. Macron with an assortment of imperfect, even unpalatable, options. Many opponents blame his decision to call snap elections last year for France’s political mess, and he is under immense pressure to find a way out of it.

Mr. Macron’s office said on Monday that he had asked Mr. Lecornu, who remains in a caretaker capacity, to hold last-ditch talks with political forces “to define a platform for action and stability for the country” by Wednesday evening. Mr. Lecornu said on social media that he had agreed to do so and that Mr. Macron would “draw all the necessary conclusions” depending on the result of the talks.

That offered little clarity on Mr. Macron’s ultimate intentions.

The presidency is in many ways France’s most powerful political office. But prime ministers and the members of their cabinets, who answer to the National Assembly, are formally in charge of domestic policy, including the budget.

Here’s what to know about what Mr. Macron could do:

A new government

The quickest solution is to appoint a new prime minister and form a new cabinet.

From a legal standpoint, Mr. Macron can pick whomever he likes. Politically, though, he needs someone who can pass muster with the 577 lawmakers in the lower house of Parliament, at least long enough to approve the 2026 budget.

Any new government will face the same problem. The lower house is deadlocked among three large political blocs: a collection of left-wing parties; an uneasy alliance of conservatives and centrists; and a nationalist, anti-immigrant far right.

The result has been paralysis. Cross-party coalitions are not part of the political culture in France, which for decades was governed by alternating left- and right-wing majorities. Further complicating the picture are internal party calculations and rivalries, as the country prepares for municipal elections in 2026 and presidential elections in 2027.

“Political parties are continuing to act as though they all have an absolute majority,” Mr. Lecornu said in his farewell address, in which he accused them of putting “partisan appetites” above the nation’s interest.

Until now, Mr. Macron had favored the appointment of center-right politicians who he believed were skilled enough to survive while preserving his flagship reforms, like raising the retirement age.

But that strategy has led to the downfall of three prime ministers in less than a year, and the country’s patience is wearing thin. Mr. Macron’s opponents on the moderate left say it is their turn.

“Democracy in our country must finally be respected,” Pierre Jouvet, a top Socialist official, said after a party meeting on Monday. “Priority must be given to the left and to the Greens to govern this country and offer a strong political alternative.”

New elections?

Other opponents say merely replacing Mr. Lecornu won’t cut it. Instead, they are urging Mr. Macron to call parliamentary elections as soon as possible, in hopes they yield a working majority.

Mr. Macron has, for now, ruled that out. His centrist coalition, which is projected to lose seats in a snap election, does not want to go back to the ballot box. But the far-right National Rally party and the far-left France Unbowed party would eagerly go.

A study last month by the IFOP polling institute found that the National Rally and its allies would secure about 32 to 33 percent of votes in the first round of snap elections. The left would get about 25 to 26 percent, the centrist coalition 15 percent and the mainstream conservative party 13 percent.

But projecting final seat results in France’s two-round voting system is tricky, and it remains unclear whether new elections would break the deadlock.

The president resigns?

An even more radical option would be for Mr. Macron to resign, leading to early presidential elections. That has happened only once before during the Fifth Republic — when Charles de Gaulle stepped down in 1969 after a failed referendum.

France Unbowed — still fuming that Mr. Macron refused to appoint a prime minister from the left after the bloc won the most seats in the last elections — has been pushing for this option. Even some more moderate politicians support it.

They argue that Mr. Macron, who was first elected in 2017, is responsible for the country’s rising debt, that he has become too unpopular to effectively govern, and that only a new president with a clear mandate can pull the country out of its political quagmire.

A recent study by the Odoxa polling institute found that Mr. Macron had an approval rating of only 22 percent. But he has repeatedly vowed to serve out his second five-year term, and he cannot seek another.

What about the budget?

Regardless of what Mr. Macron decides to do, France needs a budget.

A new prime minister could submit a spending bill, but it is unclear whether Parliament would be able to pass it by the end of the year.

Even if it doesn’t, French law gives the government tools to avoid an immediate shutdown like the one gripping the United States.

For instance, the government could propose a special law that freezes taxes at current levels, allows the state to borrow money, keeps civil servants paid but bars nonessential spending. That is what happened last year, until a budget was finally passed in February.

That temporary stopgap ensures the state’s short-term functioning. But the longer it lasts, the harder it becomes for the government to operate, and the more uncertainty it creates for investors, businesses and consumers.

If Parliament refuses to go along or does not hold a vote, the government can, under certain conditions, impose a budget by decree. But that untested move could worsen the political crisis.

Related Content