The French Government has resigned, but Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has accepted a request from President Emmanuel Macron to find a solution to the political crisis.
They resigned on Monday, only hours after Lecornu announced his cabinet line-up, making it the briefest administration in modern French history, but Macron urged Lecornu to hold discussions with other political parties within 48 hours to find a way forward.
"The president has entrusted Mr Sebastien Lecornu, the outgoing Prime Minister in charge of day-to-day affairs, with the responsibility of conducting final negotiations by Wednesday evening to define a platform for action and stability for the country," the Elysee Palace said in a statement.
Lecornu, France’s fifth prime minister in less than two years, tendered his resignation just 27 days after being appointed in the wake of threats to topple his new government.
Lecornu said each political party was behaving like they had a parliamentary majority, and the “conditions were not fulfilled” to stay in office.
“I was ready to compromise, but each political party wanted the other political party to adopt its entire program,” France 24 reported him as saying after his shock decision to step down.
An ally of Macron, Lecornu failed to achieve the support needed in the parliament to get approval for the 2026 budget, which is aimed at reducing state debt.
The options for Macro, whose term ends in May 2027, include reappointing Lecornu as prime minister, naming a new prime minister, dissolving parliament and calling elections, or resigning.
Financial markets reacted to the news with yields rising on government bonds and the sharemarket and the euro falling.
"This joke has gone on long enough, the farce must end," far-right National Rally chief Marine Le Pen was quoted in a Reuters story as saying.
Mathilde Panot, of the hard-left France Unbowed, said: "The countdown has begun. Macron must go."
