FRENCH PM LECORNU RESIGNS HOURS AFTER UNVEILING CABINET
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France’s Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has resigned, hours after his cabinet was unveiled.
According to the BBC, the surprise resignation was confirmed by the Elysée Palace on Monday, following a one-hour meeting between Lecornu and President Emmanuel Macron.
The abrupt move plunges the French government back into uncertainty less than a month after Lecornu was appointed to replace François Bayrou.
Several parties in the National Assembly had fiercely criticised the composition of Lecornu’s cabinet, which was largely unchanged from Bayrou’s, and threatened to vote it down.
Macron named Lecornu, a former defence minister, to the post last month.
But the largely unchanged cabinet he unveiled late on Sunday to work with Lecornu sparked fierce criticism across the political spectrum.
Lecornu had faced the daunting task of finding approval in a deeply divided parliament for an austerity budget for next year.
Lecornu’s two immediate predecessors, Francois Bayrou and Michel Barnier, were ousted by the legislative chamber in a standoff over the spending plan.
France’s public debt has reached a record high, official data showed last week.
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France’s debt-to-GDP ratio is now the European Union’s third-highest after Greece and Italy, and is close to twice the 60 percent permitted under EU rules.
Previous governments had rammed the last three annual budgets through parliament without a vote, a method allowed by the constitution but deeply criticised by the opposition.
But Lecornu promised last week to ensure lawmakers were able to vote on the bill.
France has been mired in deadlock since Macron gambled on snap parliamentary elections in the middle of last year in the hopes of bolstering his authority.
The move backfired, leaving the Macron-friendly bloc in the assembly in a minority.
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