PARIS: France’s caretake prime minister on Wednesday said he saw a path to forming a new government but that the “final stretch” would be difficult, adding that it was possible France have a new premier in the next 48 hours.
Sebastien Lecornu, France’s fifth prime minister in two years, tendered his and his government’s resignation on Monday, just hours after announcing the cabinet line-up, making it the shortest-lived administration in modern France.
But at President Emmanuel Macron’s request, Lecornu has held further consultations with political leaders spanning the center left to center right in an effort to defuse the crisis and avoid snap parliamentary elections.
“I told the President of the Republic ... that I believe the situation allows for (him) to name a prime minister in the next 48 hours,” Lecornu told France 2 after briefing Macron on his talks.
Macron has this week faced calls to hold a snap parliamentary elections or resign, in particular from far-right and hardleft politicians but also from some in the political mainstream. Lecornu said his talks with other parties showed there was a majority in parliament against a snap election.
Markets have taken fright at the political paralysis in the euro zone’s second biggest economy, with investors already jittery over the country’s yawning budget deficit.
However, French assets saw some improvement on Wednesday after Lecornu expressed cautious optimism over the possibility of a deal in the morning, with Paris’ CAC 40 index up 1.1 percent on the day. The French benchmark remains one of Europe’s laggards in 2025.
Ahead of Lecornu’s remarks,
French bonds
outperformed their euro zone peers on the possibility that the country’s parliament may agree a budget by the end of the year.
It was unclear when Macron would announce any decisions.
Lecornu made clear he would not be the next prime minister. He declined to say who might be the next prime minister, or what their political leaning would likely be, stressing that this was up to Macron to decide.
France has a path to avoiding snap elections, caretaker PM Lecornu says
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France has a path to avoiding snap elections, caretaker PM Lecornu says
- Lecornu has held further consultations with political leaders spanning the center left to center right in an effort to defuse the crisis
- “I told the President of the Republic ... that I believe the situation allows for (him) to name a prime minister in the next 48 hours,” Lecornu told France 2
Macron vows stronger cooperation with Nigeria after mass kidnappings
- Macron wrote on X that France “will strengthen our partnership with the authorities and our support for the affected populations”
PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday that France will step up cooperation with Nigeria after speaking with his counterpart, as the West African country faces a surge in abductions.
Nigeria has been wracked by a wave of kidnappings in recent weeks, including the capture of over 300 school children two weeks ago that shook Africa’s most populous country, already weary from chronic violence.
Macron wrote on X that the move came at Nigerian President Bola Tinubu’s request, saying France “will strengthen our partnership with the authorities and our support for the affected populations,” while urging other countries to “step up their engagement.”
“No one can remain a spectator” to what is happening in Nigeria, the French president said.
Nigeria has drawn heightened attention from Washington in recent weeks, after US President Donald Trump said in November that the United States was prepared to take military action there to counter the killing of Christians.
US officials, while not contradicting Trump, have since instead emphasized other US actions on Nigeria including security cooperation with the government and the prospect of targeted sanctions.
Kidnappings for ransom by armed groups have plagued Nigeria since the 2014 abduction of 276 school girls in the town of Chibok by Boko Haram militants.
The religiously diverse country is the scene of a number of long-brewing conflicts that have killed both Christians and Muslims, often indiscriminately.
Many scholars say the reality is more nuanced, with conflicts rooted in struggles for scarce resources rather than directly related to religion.
