France’s President Emmanuel Macron unveiled a new government on Sunday, after marathon talks to cobble together a cabinet and prevent the country from slipping deeper into a political crisis.<\/p>\n
The lineup, a mix of old and new faces, is Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu’s second attempt at bringing together a team to overcome months of deadlock and pass a much-needed austerity budget through a deeply divided parliament.<\/p>\n
“A mission-driven government has been appointed to provide France with a budget before the end of the year,” Lecornu wrote on X on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The new team must present a 2026 draft budget before a Tuesday deadline, giving parliament the constitutionally required 70 days to scrutinise the plan before year’s end.<\/p>\n
But it faces a tough fight for its survival after the legislative chamber toppled Lecornu’s two predecessors over cost-cutting measures, and with many disgruntled at his reappointment.<\/p>\n
According to the cabinet lineup published by the president’s office, Jean-Noel Barrot remained as foreign minister.<\/p>\n
Outgoing labour minister Catherine Vautrin took on the defence portfolio.<\/p>\n
Roland Lescure, a Macron loyalist, is in charge of the economy, with next year’s budget as a top priority.<\/p>\n
– Old and new –<\/p>\n
France has been mired in political crisis ever since Macron last year called snap polls, intending to consolidate his power but ending up instead with a hung parliament and gains for the far right.<\/p>\n
After being named prime minister in early September, Lecornu presented his first cabinet last Sunday, but resigned a day later after the lineup was criticised for not having enough new faces.<\/p>\n
Macron reinstated Lecornu late Friday, triggering outrage and vows from opponents to oust his cabinet at the first chance.<\/p>\n
Lecornu, a former defence minister and Macron loyalist who has described himself as a “warrior monk”, said last week the government should include technocrats but no-one with any ambitions to run for president at the end of Macron’s term in 2027.<\/p>\n
In the new cabinet announced Sunday, Paris police chief Laurent Nunez took over the interior ministry, replacing Bruno Retailleau whose right-wing Republicans party said it would not be part of Lecornu’s government.<\/p>\n
Monique Barbut, the former France director of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), was to head the ministry of environmental transition.<\/p>\n
Gerald Darmanin, a hardliner who has pushed for high-security prisons, stayed on as justice minister.<\/p>\n
And Rachida Dati, a scandal-ridden culture minister who is set to stand trial on corruption charges next year, also retained her post.<\/p>\n
– ‘Bill-by-bill’ –<\/p>\n
The French president, who is facing the worst domestic crisis since the 2017 start of his presidency, has yet to address the public since Lecornu’s first government fell.<\/p>\n
He was scheduled to head to Egypt on Monday to support a Gaza ceasefire deal brokered by the United States — a trip that could delay the presentation of the draft budget.<\/p>\n
The premier has pledged to work with all mainstream political movements.<\/p>\n
But he is under pressure from parties across the political spectrum, including the leftist Socialists, a swing group, who have threatened to topple his government unless he backs away from a 2023 pension reform that increased the retirement age from 62 to 64.<\/p>\n
The right-wing Republicans, once a key political ally, said this weekend they would only cooperate on a “bill-by-bill” basis.<\/p>\n
The far-right National Rally, the largest party in parliament with ambitions to win power in 2027, has vowed to vote out any new Lecornu government.<\/p>\n
burs-ah\/rlp<\/p>\n
\u00a9 Agence France-Presse<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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