L’HAY-LES-ROSES, France: France’s newly re-appointed prime minister acknowledged Saturday that there weren’t "a lot of candidates" for his job — and that he might not last long in the post given the country’s deep political divides.
Sebastien Lecornu, renamed by President Emmanuel Macron late Friday after a week of political chaos, called for calm and for the support of political parties to produce a budget for the European Union’s No. 2 economy before looming deadlines.
His appointment is seen as Macron’s last chance to reinvigorate his second term, which runs until 2027. His centrist camp lacks a majority in the National Assembly and he is facing increasing criticism even within its ranks.
But rivals from far right to far left slammed Macron’s decision to rename Lecornu, France’s fourth prime minister in barely a year. France is struggling with mounting economic challenges and ballooning debt, and the political crisis is aggravating its troubles and raising alarm across the European Union.
“I don’t think there were a lot of candidates,″ Lecornu told reporters Saturday during a visit to a police station in the Paris suburb of L’Hay-les-Roses.
Lecornu, who resigned Monday after just a month on the job, said he agreed to come back because of the urgent need to find financial solutions for France. But he said he would only stay as long as ″conditions are met,″ and seemed to acknowledge the risk that he could be brought down in a no-confidence vote by the fractured parliament.
″Either political forces help me and we accompany each other ... or they won’t,″ he said.
He wouldn’t say when he expects to form a new government or who could be in it, but has said it wouldn’t include anyone angling for the 2027 presidential election. He didn’t address opposition demands to scrap a contentious law raising the retirement age.
Over the past year, Macron’s successive minority governments have collapsed in quick succession, leaving France mired in political paralysis as it faces a debt crisis that has worried markets and EU partners, and a growing poverty rate.
France’s re-appointed prime minister Lecornu calls for calm amid political chaos
https://arab.news/9gkz2
France’s re-appointed prime minister Lecornu calls for calm amid political chaos
- Lecornu called for calm and for the support of political parties
- “I don’t think there were a lot of candidates,″ Lecornu told reporters Saturday
Russian army present in six African countries: state TV
- Russian troops or military instructors have been reported to be additionally deployed in Burkina Faso, Niger, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic and Libya
- The Wagner group was disbanded and restructured after its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin died in a mysterious plane crash in August 2023 following a short-lived mutiny against Moscow
MOSCOW: The Russian army is operating in six African countries, state TV reported in a rare high-profile acknowledgement of the extent of Moscow’s official military presence on the continent.
Facing isolation in the West following its full-scale offensive in Ukraine, Moscow has tried to build new partnerships in Africa, where it has been growing its political, economic and military footprint in recent years.
“Officers and soldiers of the Russian Armed Forces unit are already operating in six African countries,” a state TV correspondent said in a report broadcast Sunday.
Except from Mali, the report did not specify which countries.
Russian troops or military instructors have been reported to be additionally deployed in Burkina Faso, Niger, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic and Libya.
The African Corps unit of the Russian defense ministry took over from the Wagner paramilitary group across the continent, diplomatic sources in the Sahel region told AFP in June.
The Wagner group was disbanded and restructured after its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin died in a mysterious plane crash in August 2023 following a short-lived mutiny against Moscow.
Its troops had been fighting in Ukraine and had been deployed across Africa.
The state TV report identified Africa Corps as part of the Russian defense ministry.
It said most of the soldiers deployed were “veterans of the Special Military Operation,” Russia’s term for the war in Ukraine.
In one shot, a flag with insignia resembling the Wagner group’s trademark skull logo could be seen at what the reporter said was a Russian base in Mali.
The video also showed two Russian bombers launching an attack and displayed heavy Russian equipment including helicopters and armored personnel carriers.
Moscow says its forces are helping several African governments repel jihadist insurgencies.
