France’s President Emmanuel Macron has reappointed the same prime minister who resigned on October 6th, Sébastien Lecornu. Lecornu led a government that lasted 836 minutes, according to the New York Times, which is a good check of the pulse on France’s current government’s stability. This year, Macron has chosen three prime ministers of the center to center-right ideology, not swaying too far away from his own party’s base of support. This turbulence in the French government comes a year after Macron’s Ensemble Party lost 86 seats and lost its status as the largest party in France’s 577 seat National Assembly. The point of the snap election that occurred after President Macron dissolved the National Assembly was to solidify his party’s footing for the remainder of his term, but it has had the opposite effect.
According to Politico, Macron’s party sits at 15% support in national polling behind the leading far-right National Rally Party at 34%, and the party to Macron’s right, the New Popular Front. This has put Macron in a tough position to maintain a stable government. Macron’s reappointment of the same prime minister who just resigned does not exactly show long term stability.
Opposition to Macron is growing across the political spectrum, from far-left to far-right. It is hard to imagine that his prime minister will be able to make this current government hold. In tandem with the issue of parliamentary stability, France has growing budget issues. To have a budget approved by the end of this year, Prime Minister Lecornu must have his budget presented by next week, which is a tall task. Many say that the only way to bring stability to France’s government is for Macron himself to resign, but that does not seem to be Macron’s plan, even with continued failures of stability.
France’s instability comes at a crucial moment. Maria Le Pen’s far-right National Rally Party (RN) waits in the wings to strike in the midst of further instability by winning the 2027 presidential election. With continued uncertainty, it brings worry that the RN could win. France has managed to keep a far-right government out of France for 80 years since Vichy France, but in this moment, if polls hold, France might be staring down a far-right government as the head of Europe’s third largest country.